Dark Words Leaves the Truth Unspoken
by Dolphin02
Summary: AU. "Do you believe in soul mates May?" Dawn asked softly, staring forlornly at her own wrist. "No," May shook her head. "Why not?" Dawn asked. "Because there's no such thing as soul mates. No one will ever love with you forever. Even with these stupid timers." Suddenly, May's timer beeped. 00:00:00:00:00:00. *HAITUS A LITTLE WHILE*
1. Prologue

**AN:** **Okay, so this is really weird. It's an AU where the Pokemon characters are in our world. Hollywood exists, and Pokemon do not. :( Sorry. Um...it was inspired by a story called Stucco Hearts, for PJO, and the multiple excellent Hollywood/Fame fics out there. It's a mash-up of both? They're trying to survive being famous, yet this whole thing with soul mates and timers. :)**

 **This is mostly Ikari with Contest as a side, and the other pairings are kinda background.**

 **Ninety percent of songs and people are copied off real people, and ten percent I just make up...so yeah, bear with me? The Prologue is kinda...well, it explains the world your about to delve into! ;)**

* * *

Timers.

They first emerged around 2031 in Hoenn, when Dr. Sanchez found out that love, and the strings attaching people together, could be harnessed, and it could be forced to show up. Mankind, could literally force these strings into visibility.

They could forcibly find your soulmate.

By 2035, they were so advanced, they adapted with the changing world. They no longer simply found the threads the person was born with, but changed and altered as the person grew, changed, and was shaped by the people around them.

Your soulmate could change, they found out. They also found out, that you could meet your soulmate earlier or later than scheduled, as people changed the world in their everyday lives.

At first, they used it for good. Dr. Sanchez made one mistake though. She didn't patent the little devices that counted down until you found your soulmate. No, she thought that everyone deserved love, and offered anyone to get the little device installed on the inside of their wrist. It was a gift. And it was optional. Through the whirlwind on making it optional, she forgot to make the device her own.

But by 2036, the government had become corrupted. A mass migration happened when the people realized what a horror their beloved country had become. When Kanto, Sinnoh, and Johto realized what was happening, they ignored Hoenn. They lost contact with the now-horrifying country. Sinnoh, Johto, and Kanto all closed its borders.

Hoenn was on it's own, with more than half of the population gone.

But the people of Hoenn were not at all happy with the new taxes and the new laws, and the rich businessmen who had taken over the government. They called themselves, the Inner Circle. It consisted of many. A couple hundred families, all on different levels of wealth. All greedy and power-hungry. The ones who didn't want to overthrow the government, was kicked out when the Inner Circle overthrew the government. They were drained of their money, the Inner Circle families avoiding the horrendous taxes.

The highest of the high in the Inner Circle, the Leader, was voted there, by 'the people', they said. But really, it was only the Inner Circle votes that counted. Nobody else's votes were counted in.

By 2038, the government finally used the Timers for their own purposes. Dr. Sanchez was horrified when she realized what a monster she had created. But it was too late.

They enacted laws that _required_ you to get a Timer as a baby. Everyone had to get one. And when you met your soulmate, you had to marry them within a year, and consummate the marriage as well. You had to reproduce 2 babies, and be together for 10 years as well, before you could file for a divorce. The legal papers were long as they covered every possible loop-hole they could think of. It had to be perfect.

By 2045 whispers of unrest and the spark of rebellion had filled the population.

There was the drama between all the politicians(a.k.a. the rich business men), and the music industry. Of course, the people turned towards music, and it became sacred. The government tried to take it away in 2047, but how do you take away the one thing that earns you the most money?

That angered the people though. One step forward, two back.

2050's were the hardest, with the people getting used to the new laws, while the angry rebels out there fought for their own lives, to have the choice of choosing who to love. The government held a tight grip on the laws.

The taxes were harsh, so even the richest men, not in the Inner Circle, was drained of even the basic needs. The 50's Blues they called it. When no one had enough to eat until they met their soulmate, giving them compensation to marry the person. Resentment and hatred grew, people unwilling working hours and hours, only to have nothing to eat after the taxes went through.

Nobody was safe. Crime and thuggery was common. So the government began building an army of guards, OrderGuards. They patrolled the streets, and kept crime low. They patrolled the borders, to make sure no one escaped. They escorted the rich, either in the Inner Circle, or the music industry, with the addition of modeling, acting...they were the way people expressed things. And the only entertainment around.

Many were arrested during that period of time, Dr. Sanchez fading the background, yet still continuing her research.

By 2060, people were much happier. People learned to get along with the Timer laws, and the staggering taxes, it all seemed to go into routine. But the underlying whisper of rebellion hovered.

No one liked to be controlled. They accepted leadership. But control? That was out of the question. And the government was definitely controlling them, and the people didn't like it. No, they didn't.

And the politicians knew that.

So as the rebellion gained speed, and the population kept up the compliant facade. The government remained nearly blind to the anger underneath all perfectly behaved citizens.

2062 was were our story begins. People have just settled down, and the Utopian atmosphere started closing in.

You lived. You loved. You raised kids. You had fun. You had just enough money to get by with a little joy. Everything was peaceful. No wars. No crimes.

But why were there armed guards everywhere? And why was there murmurs of unrest underneath the paradise? Why was the music that was so loved...so dangerous? Why was love so twisted and controlled?

Something wasn't right.

And our girls are about to figure out just how much there world had to hide. And what the music industry had to do with it.

But first. They had to deal with their Timers. And their soulmates. Or rather, lack of for one of our special singers.

The rebellion was coming. Things were about to change. Could the girls take the change? Both of the sudden fame, their new-found loves, and the turmoil of their beloved region?

* * *

 **AN: Well, this was really short. Oh well. Read on!**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Well. Now that we got the explanation stuff out of the way...dun dun dun!  
**

* * *

May sighed.

Sometimes, she really hated life. It was a whole different world from the small town she grew up in. She rubbed her eyes, watching Leaf's fingers dart across the keyboard. Leaf's timer glowed gently, counting down.

 **01:03:04:11:24:32**

One year, three months, four days, eleven hours, twenty-four minutes, and thirty-two seconds until Leaf was supposed to meet her soul mate, face to face.

Dawn was talking sweetly into her phone, as if trying to charm someone.

May shook her head and took in the small coffee shop.

The usuals were the ones walking casually through the shop, right up to the pick-up counter, not even bothering to list off their drink. Newcomers, like May, Dawn and Leaf were milling around, and some had taken a seat at the coffee shop's brown and black tables.

Soft violin music played in the background, soothing any negative feelings away.

The entire color scheme was brown and black, the neutral coffee colors. It gave the building a warm, cozy feeling.

Her morning had sucked. First, on her way to her normal coffee shop, Yola's Cafe, paparazzi swarmed her, and practically tore her apart. So, with ripped clothes, a barely intact handbag, and the shreds of her dignity, she ducked into Dawn's rescue limo. Then it was off to a photo shoot. And May still didn't get her coffee. After that, a boring lunch date with her manager, the girls, and another desperate artist who wanted to do a collaboration. Of course, their manager, Iris, decided for the girls, saying no to the pitiful band.

May almost felt bad for turning down the band. But they really did sound horrible and would not meld at all with their style.

May finally turned back towards Dawn and Leaf.

"Okay," Dawn grinned, snapping her phone shut. "I just sweet talked our manager to letting Mist and Mar, come find us. We have the rest of the day off. They'll be here undercover in ten."

"Undercover, sure," Leaf snorted.

"Well, hey, we have a new stylist or something," Dawn shrugged. "She might actually be good this time. You never know. Several disasters could always bring a miracle."

May and Leaf shared a smile. Dawn was always the optimistic one.

"Well, I'm going to go get a Caramel Mocchiato. Later," May said, standing up to leave.

Dawn, and Misty, all grew up with May, a small town in the middle of nowhere. But when Dawn, Misty and May went to college, they met Misty's cousin, Marina, and her best friends Leaf and Serena. The girls had clicked, and soon, they were always together on campus.

And all six of them were there for music.

Dawn, Misty, and May had been a band. Sort of. But it felt incomplete, and so they had broken up, though they still pursued their music dreams.

Dawn played the guitar, May the piano, and Misty the drums. But when they met Marina and Leaf, they started up the band again.

Marina could play the violin, viola, and cello. Hard to believe, but since her mom was a music teacher, it was understandable how she could play three strings instruments excellently, and sometimes, in the songs without string instruments, she just sang, as she and May took turns being the lead singer, with Dawn on backup vocals.

Leaf played the guitar along with Dawn, and they switched between bass and normal.

Leaf also knew how to manipulate the instruments and vocals to make it sound good. And she wanted to become a music producer in the future. She was good with the technology, and she had a good ear for the best melodies and harmonies. So even though she played guitar with Dawn, she wrote the music for the girls as well. All the girls chipped in for the lyrics, but Leaf wrote most of the music.

Together, they made Words Unspoken.

"Hey May! Can you get me a Peppermint Mocha?" Leaf called, her head buried in yet another sheet of music.

"Caramel Frappuccino!" Dawn added, shooting May a pleading look.

"Lazy butt heads," May muttered with annoyance, yet affection.

When the barista called for her to move up, and May told her the orders. "Um, can I have a tall Peppermint Mocha, a medium Caramel Frappuccino, and a medium Chai Tea Latte?"

"That'd be twelve forty seven," the barista told her through a pair of serious-looking glasses.

"Uh...okay? Here's that in cash, and that's the change," May said quickly, handing her a handful of money. The barista took it, and printed out the receipt.

"Name?" the barista prompted, her fingers on the keyboard.

"Uh...Melanie?" May said nervously, tugging her sunglasses lower.

The barista sighed, giving May a disapproving look. "Ms. Maple, I knew who walked into Carren's Coffee the second you sat down. You might as well tell me your real name. It's not like I'll sabotage your drinks. And this isn't exactly the first time a celebrity has walked in here."

May blushed at being called out. She focused on the name engraved on the name plate. "Ana? Well...uh Ms. Ana...I have to do this or paparazzi will kill us. It has nothing to do with you guys...or your store."

Ana thought for a moment, then nodded in understanding. "You may go wait by the counter to the right. Ms. Melanie."

After May procured their drinks, May rejoined her friends.

"Hey!" Marina said breathlessly as she plopped down between Dawn and Leaf. Misty took a seat on the other side of Dawn.

"Well...what do you guys want to do? There's not much," Dawn asked, leaning back and settling into the soft cushioning.

"The gym!" Misty proposed excitedly, grinning.

"Not a bad idea," Leaf agreed, sipping her drink.

"I really don't care," Marina said, standing up. "I'm going to get myself an Iced Coffee with Caramel. Mist?"

"Expresso," Misty answered automatically, smiling.

"Nah...I wanna go visit the mall," Dawn countered, giving Misty a challenging look. "I haven't been there in forever!"

"The mall sounds nice. Spa...Yes please," Leaf agreed with Dawn, ever the indecisive one.

"Alright, alright," May interrupted as the two friends faced off, neither budging. "If we're going to get mad about this, I say we go home. Movie night. Popcorn...soda, and we can go shopping for snacks, and go to the mall. Mist, you don't need to go to the gym. Remember? They just installed the exercise room and the pool last week. You can go home and exercise first, while we go shopping, how about that?" May offered, "Then everyone is happy."

"That sounds good," Misty admitted, leaning back. "We just have to wait for Mar to get back with the drinks now?"

"Yep," Dawn nodded, staring at the flowery watch on her right wrist. "It's around one-thirty right now. This is the light lunch, and then then dinner will be kinda bad. Popcorn, and the other junk food."

"Should we invite all of the girls?" Misty asked, standing up as Marina had came back with their drinks. "Mar, we're having a girls night at the mansion. We'll go shopping and Mist'll stay at home at the new gym, you know?"

"Did May come up with this plan? Because usually that's what happens," Marina said matter-of-factly, handing Misty her steaming plastic cup.

"Thanks," Misty said, before glaring at her.

"What'd you mean, May came up with it? We're perfectly capable of agreeing," Misty huffed.

"No..." Marina smiled wryly, tossing a strand of blue hair behind her. "You guys really aren't. It's mostly May and me that break you guys up. Leaf just doesn't really take sides. So it's always Misty against Dawn."

May nodded in agreement.

"Okay, whatever," Misty grumbled, tossing her braided hair behind her shoulder. "If everyone's going shopping, I suppose I could tag along. You know. But we don't have to visit the clothing stores too."

"Oh! You mean like Lance Foo's?" Leaf whispered conspiratorially.

"Leaf," Marina sighed, "That's for boys. And it's shoes. Arceus how do you not know this? Remember when we would talk about this on campus?"

"Well, sorry! I was busy writing music and reading books! And fine then...I guess. How about Luvdisc Landing?" Leaf tried. "And music and books were much more interesting!"

"No...that's for little ones," Marina laughed. "We've got to get you out of your books and more into society. Girl. We're supposed to be celebs. Our first red carpet was just a couple months ago. I know you write songs wonderfully...but society is important Leafy!"

"Okay, okay," Leaf laughed awkwardly, shaking her head. "Let's go. I'll allow you guys to...educate me."

"I've got the Audi," May said, searching through her bag for her keys.

The girls filed out of the quaint cafe. The barista, Ana nodded at them, and the girls waved goodbye as well before letting the glass door close behind them.

The busy streets were loud but the girls quickly located their sleek mini-van.

There were five of them, but when Iris, their manager had to tag along, or Aralyn, their music producer needed to, or even on concert nights, when they had to bring their instruments, they had room for everything.

As they piled in, Leaf took off, lurching through the streets.

Leaf flicked on the radio. 'Mockingbird' filled the car.

 _Now hush little baby don't you cry,_

 _Everything's gonna be alright,_

 _Stiffen up that upper lip little lady,_

 _I told ya, Daddy's here to hold you through the night,_

The girls shared a sharp looks, glancing sadly at their friend. They all knew about how sentimental the song was.

A call came in, interrupting the song much to some of the girls' relief.

Leaf pressed a button on the wheel quickly.

When the call finally connected and the beat was cut off, the girls all sat forward and listened as Iris's voice filled the car.

"Hey! So I completely forgot to put this on the calendar, but...they moved the Wallace's. It's tonight. I'm sorry. I just realized. I've already sent over the make-up and hair artists. You guys are nominated for a couple songs. And you guys are the opening with Viva La Vida. Gotta be there. It's going to be you're real, huge debut. I know that your albums are already platinum and all that, but this is your first real awards event. You got to be there."

Misty's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the Wallace's are tonight, the second most important award ceremonies every year. And it'll be your first awards event. Now if you guys don't start getting ready, the limo which will be coming at seven-thirty, will miss you. Hurry home now."

"Iris!" Leaf groaned, rubbing at her eyes.

"I'll be there in an hour. Aralyn's already there. Now hurry up."

"Ugh. You suck Iris. You know that?" Misty groaned.

"Yup. Love you to. See ya!" And with another crackle of static, Iris was gone.

"I guess our night plans are ruined," Dawn said glumly.

"You guess?" Marina laughed pointedly, laughing. "I think it should be, 'you know'."

Leaf sighed, gripping the wheel. "Well, I guess we're still going home, right?"

"Yup. Aren't any of you excited?" May asked, bouncing in the shotgun seat. "Like come on! This is the WALLACE'S! The host is the most famous host in Johto, Hoenn, and Kalos! I can't believe this! I've been dying to go to a Wallace since I was tiny! Aren't any of you excited?"

Dawn shrugged, brushing hair back nervously. "I think we're all just a little nervous and shocked since Iris just sprung that on us. We've been expecting to get time to process this, but we're not. It's...all too fast. We're going to be sitting with people, who we've dreamed of meeting. Of course we're excited May."

"Good," May smiled with satisfaction.

Misty shared a look with Leaf in the rear-view mirror. "Come on Leaf. Let's go home."

With that, Leaf took off, diving back into Hollywood afternoon traffic.

* * *

"Whoever got you into that my dear friend, it a genius," Dawn said seriously, holding Iris at arm-length.

Iris rolled her eyes, motioning to a blue-eyed, honey-haired girl that dressed Misty, Marina, Iris, and even Aralyn. "Thank Serena. She's the young stylist that just joined the team, but everyone only talks compliments about. She's amazing. I was going to ask you're opinions on her, but I think I got them now, right? Come down when you're done, Dawn."

Dawn nodded in agreement before grinning wildly and reached forwards to tap Serena on the shoulder as Serena reached over to twist May's hair up differently than before.

"Hmm...sorry Stella, don't tell her I changed your look, okay May?" Serena whispered in the brunette's ear as she changed the hairstyle quickly.

May laughed, nodding slowly. "Of course!"

"That looks amazing! Hi! I'm Dawn, and you're work is fabulous. I'm almost jealous!"

Serena turned around with pink-dusted cheeks, staring wide-eyed at the ecstatic Dawn. "O-oh! Me? Nah...I'm okay. I just like styling clothes and looks..."

"Nothing too important..." Serena finished with a blush.

"Well you're really good at it," Dawn winked, giving Serena another cheerful look before darting out of the bathroom and heading downstairs. May laughed lightly, giving the younger girl she had befriended a nudge, motioning towards the gaping door.

"Ignore Dawn. She's kinda hyper. She had three cups of soda today. But she's right. You're a good stylist," May said, meeting Serena's shocked light blue eyes in the mirror. "Don't be shocked! You must have known that! One of my good friends Elesa, took one look at your designs and fell in love! But we said, 'nuh-uh! We're keeping her!'."

"You sound so surprised!" Marina called from where she was curling Misty's hair, grinning. "You're good! Amazing in fact! Stella's gone after today anyways. And you should be proud! You should come with us! It'll be a good experience! And the spotlight won't be on the rising stars for once! It'll be on the rising stylist!"

"Oh! Thank you..." Serena muttered shyly, focusing on making sure there was not a hair out of place from May's braided, complicated side up-do. "But no thanks...My soulmate Calem wants me to come over and watch the Wallace's with him. So...I'll see you guys on TV?"

"That's okay, but we're definitely going to be giving you the credit about our dresses Serena! You just watch!" Misty agreed, cautiously touching the satiny fabric of her dress, before giving her a wide grin and pulling Marina out the door. "I'm going to tell Iris to keep you on permanently."

Leaf followed them, giving May a sharp look to make sure she wouldn't waste time. "Thanks Serena, see you later! I hope you consider working with us in the future! You're really good! I'm the one who sent the pictures to Elesa...though May'll try and take all the credit!"

"Hey! That's not true! Don't lie Leaf! It was my idea! Plus, I'm coming anyways! Why do you have to be such a party pooper Leaf? Hmph! Hey! Wait up!" May shot at Leaf, standing up to collect her things as she thanked Serena for her help.

"Come back anytime Serena, you're awesome! You should watch the show tonight, see what critics have to say about you're designs. Elesa wants you to work for her, so...If you really want to leave, I guess we could let you go...once in a lifetime opportunity!"

"Wait! Wha-" Serena gasped.

"MAY!"

May giggled lightly as she shut the door, Serena's shocked face still imprinted on her mind. "THINK ABOUT IT!"

May took the steps two at a time, still being careful, wobbling a little in her heels before straightening.

"You took for _ever_ May!" Dawn exaggerated, holding her hand up to her forehead and grinning.

"No I didn't," May laughed lightly, slapping at Dawn's shoulder.

"Hey! Do not ruin Serena's hard work!" Aralyn complained, separating May and Dawn, like a teacher scolding toddlers. "Come on, the limousine is here. Let's go. Come on Misty. Yes, you can wear flats if you really want. Serena had a pair just in case you refused."

"Aralyn is awesome," Marina laughed, nudging Leaf.

"Yeah, she really is," Leaf nodded, pulling the bluenette out the door and towards the fancy car.

The car was absolutely silent as the girls all nervously dealt with turn of events.

"I can't believe we're going to a Wallace," May finally breathed as they pulled up towards the Hollywood Auditorium. "I can't believe we're performing in a Wallace. I can't believe we're opening a Wallace!"

"No new artist does, but don't worry, you guys will fit right in," Aralyn comforted them. "Plus, Iris will be there to beat up anyone who dares to shun you guys."

"Iris?" Misty snorted. "What about me? I can beat up anyone, even in a dress."

"Of course, you can Mist, don't worry now, girls. Chins up, smiles bright!" Aralyn said, as she opened the door with a flourish, being the first to dive into the press.

"Ready?" Leaf asked nervously.

"Yes," Dawn breathed. "Let's do this girls. We're going to slay that performance."

"Words Unspoken!" May agreed enthusiastically.

And then, one by one, they dove into the press after Aralyn.

"OH MY GOD!" Some person shrieked from the crowd and May and Dawn shared a nervous look as they moved through the crowd together. Misty posed wildly on red carpet grinning, while May and Dawn only seemed relatively comfortable, Leaf and Marina both looked a little uncomfortable, but posed and smiled for the cameras no less.

Misty posed with an arm slung across Dawn, her blazer half-open. Misty was the only one able to pull off a completely black dress, with a stylish blazer covering her top. Dawn was in a strapless, floor-length, purple-blue gown that matched May's greenish, bluish teal gown, which had been originally for Marina.

But Marina decided to go against their normal colors and went for a brilliant red top, that cut off just below her belly button, and then her skirt started, with was just like her top, but slowly, like flames, darted into blues and greens. It was absolutely beautiful on the tall, model-type body girl.

Leaf was in a floor length gown as well, and as tribute to her name, her dress looked like leaves overlapping, the top dark, vibrant green, before slowly merging with browns, reds, oranges and yellows, as if spring giving away to fall.

Misty plowed through the crowd ahead of them, Leaf following closely behind. Then it was May and Dawn, and Marina finished up the line.

May smiled adorably as she hugged Misty's waist and rested her head on her shoulder, while Dawn hefted Misty's slung arm, and in turn arm-hugged Leaf. Marina joined the picture on May's other side, making

Soon they made it to the inside of the building, the the cool, slightly quieter atmosphere allowed the girls to relax.

* * *

"Oh my God I'm so nervous. I can't believe Iris got us the opening spot. I can't believe this. I'm going to start crying," May hyperventilated, staring fearfully at the large curtain as she played a quick arpeggio.

Dawn swatted her bum with a folded piece of paper. "No way! You can't ruin Serena's make-up!"

Marina breathed in the smell of rosin as she polished her violin. Misty came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her comfortingly.

"You got this solo thing down Mar. You're awesome!"

"That's a great idea!" Dawn agreed bouncing up and down.

"Oh I'm so nervous!" Leaf whispered as she bounced up and down. She had switched to converse, as had the rest of the girls.

Leaf was playing backup guitar, with Dawn as lead and backup singer, May on keyboard and lead singer, Misty on drums, and Marina on the violin, as this was one of their classical and contemporary mixes, which made them so popular.

Lots of classical music lovers didn't like pop music much, but the girls blend them together perfectly.

They had came up with Words Unspoken, because music really was like talking, and using words, but not speaking at all. But at the same time, they sang, and their lyrics was like poetry sometimes. You had to read between the lines or think about it symbolically.

"Alright!" Wallace called, his voice echoing across the shifting crowd. As he started, the girls got into position, going over their parts in their heads, but know that they would surrender to the music soon enough.

"Our opening act this year is, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, Words Unspoken!"

"Ready?" May spoke into the mic. The word was deafening as static filled in afterwards.

"Wow, that's loud," Misty whispered, but the mic by her drums made her voice echo, and the crowd giggled at the girls' obvious obliviousness. But it was kind, and welcoming.

All the girls closed their eyes in embarrassment. But then Dawn and Leaf started strumming, and May started in with the soft music and they felt the music sweep through all of them. Misty was playing a soft, barley there beat that gave you a good idea of how dramatic and dark the song was.

Marina's hands were shaking so hard she almost dropped her violin, but when May's soft, haunting voice narrated through the pain and experiences(that yes, were a metaphor), she started her vibrato, the smooth, velvety sound of her own violin almost shocking herself. And then she started getting lost to the music as well, closing her eyes and letting her hands fly.

Dawn was having the time of her life, "Ohhh! Ohhh. Ohhhohhh, ohhh."

"Revolutionaaaaaries wait," May belted that note, so loud she thought her drums would burst, but instead it came out loud, yes, but also sweet, and pure.

As Leaf joined Dawn in runs that harmonized with May's chorus perfectly, she thought about how ironic it was that she had wrote the song to show how power, fame, and money wasn't always the thing you wanted. It was also about overthrowing the king, and the melancholy feelings of the song simply seemed to make the kingdom the song portrayed, even more down-trodden and sad. Though she did get sidetracked researching ancient Rome, but that didn't matter. It was just that this song was the song that empowered, and changed them. It was funny that this song said the exact opposite.

Music was also one of the best ways to voice complaints on the horrible hold of the government, using Timers against the people. They controlled them and made used them for the worse. But music was one of the most successful industries in the nation. The government couldn't cut it off. And musicians found ways to weave intricate messages into their lyrics, so subtle, that it wasn't noticeable, but enough to spark a fire.

For the last time through the chorus, Misty stopped drumming, swaying along with the music, and even Leaf stopped strumming. It was just Dawn, May, and Marina. Guitar, piano, and violin. But May singing softly and loudly at the same time, her voice filled with emotion and soft mourning.

 _I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing_  
 _Roman cavalry choirs are singing_  
 _Be my mirror, my sword and shield_  
 _My missionaries in a foreign field_  
 _For some reason I can't explain_  
 _Once you'd gone there was never_  
 _Never an honest word_  
 _And that was when I ruled the world_

May held the last note, opening her eyes and hitting a high note as Dawn jumped up from her low harmony to hit that original note. Marina's violin was loud and beautiful, filling the blank space and making the entire room feel melancholy and excited as well.

As the crowd erupted in claps, and Wallace came to usher them off, they all felt the incomprehension. They had just sang in front of thousands. Of famous people they never thought they would meet.

And Dawn screamed back stage, her eyes wide.

"Wow, we just did that," Misty breathed, her normal fiery temper quelled and filled with awe.

"I know," Marina said tremulously. "I can't believe it either."

The girls shared smiles. The hardest part of the night was over. Now they just had to wait to see the results.

* * *

"Shut up! The awards are about to start," May whispered, grinning wildly and bouncing in her seat.

"Alright, so...welcome to the annual Wallace awards! I'm well, Wallace, and welcome to the show, who was once hosted by my grandfather, Wallace the first! And now, on with the awards!" Wallace exclaimed into the microphone, his teal bangs dyed bright red for the show. He had his normal white beanie, as well as his normal teal colored-hair.

"I like his hat," Marina smiled approvingly.

"That's 'cause it looks like your hair Mar," Leaf deadpanned. Marina stuck her tongue out childishly at her.

"Wow, did not expect that from uppity Marina," Misty grinned.

Marina shot her a dirty look in turn. "Who says I'm uppity?"

"A lot of people, cuz," Misty laughed at Marina's insulted expression.

"Shut up! Wallace is starting with the album of the year!" Dawn shushed, turning towards the green-lit stage.

"Alright here are the nominations! We have, Brendan Birch, our heartthrob and he's had an excellent year, but most would say with the teenage girls department, huh? Broken In Pieces is nominated!" Wallace started everyone started clapping for the famous boy. He was known around Hollywood as the playboy, the man who got any woman, and was a good one-night stand. But...better for nothing more.

"And then we have Dark Truth! The legendary Dark Truth is back again this year! They have platinum records, Midnight Memories and Breathing Honestly! Breathing Honestly is nominated!" Wallace continued, eyes searching for the loved boy band.

They became famous two years ago, and now they were the most famous boy band ever. All of their shows sold out, and they were rarely seen in public, because paparazzi always haunted them. Gary rapped and played the guitar, Drew sang and played guitar, Ash played the drum, Paul played lead guitar, Jimmy played the keyboard and occasionally the bass.

"Our third nomination is Cynthia! Her rare, awe-inspiring voice is back for more! Goodbye Forever, is the nominated album." Wallace finished.

She had a voice that made goose-flesh crawl up your skin, and make you feel as if your entire world was changing.

"So, ready for your album of the year?"

The crowd roared in response. Wallace started tearing at the gold-lined envelope, and dug inside for the paper.

"And...the album of the year, goes to Dark Truth! BREATHING HONESTLY!" Wallace shouted in excitement, as this was one of the biggest awards of the night.

Dark Truth was in the front row, along with all the other nominees. But the girls were at the far end of the stage, and barley glimpsed the ecstatic boys.

* * *

"Our next award goes to Cynthia! For her song, Halo!" Wallace called.

As she finished her speech with an honest, yet slightly smug smile, she quickly sat down, shyly ducking away from prying eyes.

"Our next award is for the record of the year! Our nominees are our openers, Words Unspoken, with their single, Viva La Vida!"

The girls shared excited grins, but they had known ahead of time about the nomination, so it wasn't so bad, but nevertheless, it seemed so much more real

"Next, we have See You Again, by Dark Truth! This song was written as tribute to the late Lucas Anderson! He was a great actor who unfortunately died in a car accident."

"Yeah, and he was my cousin," Dawn mumbled under her breath, glaring at the cheerful Wallace.

Marina patted her hand. "It's okay Dawn, we know of your losses."

"He was pretty annoying though," Dawn amended.

May laughed, throwing back her head. "Only you, Dawn, only you."

"And the next nomination is Lyra, for her song Hollow," Wallace announced.

"The next nomination is for Zoey, for her song Blank Space. And finally, we have Steven with his song, Locked Out of Heaven!" Wallace said cheerfully, his almost fake smile making Dawn feel awkward.

As Wallace tore into the paper Dawn felt adrenaline course through here, making her feel elated and happy, even though they still didn't know. She crosses her fingers and closed her eyes, waiting for the ripping sound to stop.

"And the winner for record of the year is...VIVA LA VIDA! By Words Unspoken!"

"AHHH! OH MY GOD!" May shrieked, turning to through her arms around Dawn. Dawn hugged her tightly before reaching for Marina and Misty. Leaf got stuck in the middle with Aralyn and Iris on the outside smirking proudly.

"We won," Leaf breathed hard.

"Our first Wallace, and we win an award! And we're a new artist!" Misty squealed, her blue eyes wide.

"Yeah, I can't believe it," Dawn whispered, tearing up. All of them had tears in their eyes. But Iris ushered them towards the stage, wiping tears herself. And when Dawn stood up there with her best friends, staring over the crowd, and knew that they had accomplished something amazing, she started crying in earnest, along with all of them.

Good think Serena decided to use waterproof make-up.

"Thank you for all our fans, and our parents, and our manager Iris, and our music producer Aralyn, and now we need to get off this stage and go cry. Thank you," Dawn finished, sniffling into the microphone as she shared a watery smile with her friends.

They quickly walked off the stage, letting Wallace take the stage once more.

* * *

May surveyed the crowd, looking for the other girls as she held onto Dawn's hand tightly, not wanting to loose her in the crowd too. The girls had ended up winning the best new artist award.

Dark Truth had won the song of the year for See You Again.

"May?" Dawn asked as they weaved through the crowd.

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe in soul mates May?" Dawn asked softly, staring at the years displayed on her own wrist.

"No," May shook her head.

"Why not?" Dawn asked.

"Because there's no such thing as soul mates. No one will ever love with you forever," May told Dawn softly.

Suddenly, May's timer beeped.

00:00:00:00:00:00

Then it flashed again. Then it started blaring, loud beeps quieting everyone around them.

The name: _Andrew Hayden_ appeared.

"Hi. Are you May Maple? I'm your soulmate."

May spun around, the loose skirt of her dress flying. But the sharp flashes of the cameras blinded her.

"Drew Hayden? No way," May mumbled.

"May? Are you okay?" Dawn asked, placing a hand on May's arm.

"How can this be! I still have months!" May panicked, squinting for her soulmate. "I don't want...this can't be!"

May's mouth dropped open in shock as she noticed the legendary Dark Truth. They looked even more breathtaking up close.

All five boys had came to the place, decked out in full-on black suits, Drew and Gary in the middle, Ash and Jimmy next to them. Paul was missing.

"Who said that?" May demanded, her eyes crazed and scared. Even though she already knew the answer.

"I did," Drew smirked, casually stepping forward.

"Hey May-" Misty called, pulling along Leaf and Marina, but she was cut off as her timer beeped. Ash's timer went off as well, and the two simultaneously looked up in surprise. She clutched the two champagne flutes in her hands so hard, her knuckles were white.

She blinked, staring at her timer with shock.

The name: _Ashton Ketchum_ appeared on Misty's wrist.

Then Leaf's, along with Gary's.

The name: _Garrison Oak_ appeared on Leaf's wrist.

Then Marina's, with Jimmy.

The name: _James Kenta_ appeared on Marina's wrist. All four of them stared at the florescent blue letters with shock.

"Holy shit," Misty swore, finally flanking May.

"Fuck this shite." Misty downed her entire drink, handing the second one to May. Marina handed over her second drink to Dawn. She stared at her friends jealously. She was the one who was the romantic, the one who freaked out about love. So why was it, that she was the only alone one now?

"Careful there Mist," Leaf mumbled, steadying her friend.

"Here," Paul said quietly, handing Gary and Jimmy drinks, observing the exchange with sharp eyes.

As the two groups glared daggers at each other, people around them finally took notice of the repeated, overlapping, beeping. It was something some hoped for, and others despised.

"Dark Truth and Words Unspoken have met their soulmates! Excluding Dawn Berlitz and Paul Shinji of course!" a stray reporter yelled incredulously, stating the obvious.

"How the hell did these reporters all get in?" Paul snapped coldly, turning towards someone in the crowd.

The press went crazy. Flashes filled the large space, and microphones were shoved at the two groups as the tide of reporters all gravitated towards the two bands. This was the most exciting thing ever, because it was extremely rare to witness a soulmate meeting, and even rarer between celebrities. Much less FOUR at the same time.

"Shit," Misty swore, rubbing at her temples. "This night just gets better and better."

"CAN WE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!?" May shouted over the flashes and clicks and microphones being shoved in their faces.

"YEAH!"

Thank God Iris intervened. "IF YOU DO NOT GET OUT OF MY WAY IN FIVE SECONDS, YOU WILL NEVER GET A JOB AGAIN!"

The crowd quickly parted, and Iris dragged both of the bands far, far away.

The girls talked over each other as they freaked out.

"OKAY! Guys, when we get in there, we can't nervous or scared, or they might take advantage of the situation. Act calm and unaffected, even though I know we're all scared, okay?" Marina broke through.

On the other limo, Iris was lecturing the boys.

"We're going to the girls' place, no arguments, Aralyn already called your manager. Solidad was perfectly fine with it. You'll talk there, to clear things up. You get an hour, and then you guys can meet up at the girls' favorite cafe tomorrow morning. I'll talk with Yola. She'll be fine barring paparazzi out, I'm sure," Iris rambled, ushering all the boys into the house.

"Oh, and Aralyn called takeout. It's Chinese. I hope that's okay, since you guys didn't get to stay for the food part of the Wallace," Iris added as an afterthought.

"Have a fun talk! And behave!"

And with that, the door slammed shut, and they heard Iris's car's engine revving.

The boys stood around uncomfortably as they turned around and noticed Words Unspoken already lazily strewn across the couches, waiting for the food.

"Aren't you going to invite us to sit or something?" Ash finally asked curiously.

Misty snorted. "We have to marry you guys in a year. And we don't plan on moving. Which means that you guys should get comfortable with this place. You guys don't need an invite. Go ahead."

"Where does it say that Mist?" Marina asked, looking through the legal papers Iris had printed out. "It says here...once you meet your soulmate, you have to have legal meetings once a week for a month with your soulmate, you can date for a year, then you must get married, oh. There it is. We have to move in together...blah blah blah, required to stay together for ten years, but we have to procreate?! Eww. Why did we never read this?"

"Because we had more interesting things to do as teenagers?" May quipped.

"I'd agree with that," Leaf said thoughtfully, tapping her temple.

Jimmy's jaw dropped. "I'm not living in a house with nine other people, doing the nasty!"

"That's gross," Dawn agreed. "And it's not like I even met my soulmate yet."

"Shut up, you annoying girl, it's the same for me anyways," Paul said quietly, glaring a bit. "So stop acting like it's such a big deal."

May shrugged. "We're like sisters. We have to live together. We'd be at each other's houses all the time anyways. You're going to have to learn to live with us. We don't like it either. The government's making us all get married anyways, so logically the male and the female will move in together. Plus, it's more like...a mansion anyways."

All of the girls looked relaxed and calm, but inside, they were all freaking out. The girls all thought they had months, and some of them even had years. Same with the boys. But at least the boys were acting nervous and uncomfortable.

"Aren't you guys freaking out a little?" Drew demanded, sitting down across from May. Paul followed, and stoically glared at them with his arms crossed.

"Yeah," Dawn admitted. "We're young. We're all twenty two. We didn't plan any of this. But now we're famous, and we thought our soulmates were far far away, but I guess not, right?"

"Wait, I thought timers were supposed to be accurate," Ash asked, just realizing what had transpired.

"They are," Marina agreed, sitting up instead of lying with her head on Dawn's lap, and legs on May's. "But occasionally, if something life altering happens, timers can change. The waiting period can get longer, or shorter. They're not really...measured at all. They really are based off of your feelings and that sort of thing. It likes to change and differ. Like a GPS. They have an estimate, but with traffic and other variables, it sometimes change. You know?"

Jimmy whistled, almost smugly. "I've got myself a smart one!"

Marina shot him a dirty look, though her cheeks flushed. "That's no way to talk to a girl!"

Ash shrugged. "I think me and Paul are the only ones that didn't let the fame get to us."

"Paul and I," Leaf corrected quietly. May smirked when she heard the brunette whisper it, shooting her a knowing smile.

Drew glared at him. "Hey! You're cocky sometimes too!"

"I second that," Paul muttered quietly, sitting back more comfortably. He didn't sound jealous like his friends, but his obsidian eyes darted around, taking in the faces of all the people around him.

"So I guess we have a year to date huh?" Misty stated, her eyes dulling with the idea.

"I've never dated someone before," Drew admitted.

"Psh, I have," Gary laughed mockingly, grinning at Drew.

"That's not something to be smug about," Leaf glared, not looking very happy.

"Sweetheart, at least you know that your first time will be good," Gary shrugged.

Marina looked scandalized at the thought, and cringed away from Gary's direction.

"How do you know I haven't given my first time away?" Leaf shot back.

"Fiery," Gary mused. "Have you given it away?"

Leaf hesitated visibly. "No."

"Exactly my point," Gary said smugly.

"I think that saving yourself for someone who you will love, and who will love you is more important than just pleasure," Dawn commented softly, almost shyly.

"I agree with that," Marina nodded.

"Why are we even talking about this? We can talk about it all tomorrow. I just want to know how things will be," May hugged herself self-consciously.

"Sure. I don't care," Paul said, standing up to leave. "I didn't meet my soulmate."

"Well, someone doesn't like us," Dawn muttered. "He doesn't have to be such an ass!"

"No, I don't. But I choose to. Alright let's go," Paul ordered, ushering them all to leave.

"See ya'll tomorrow!" Gary called, faking an accent. The girls glared at him as he slammed the door shut.

"Well," Marina breathed. "That went well."

"Yeah," Dawn agreed glumly, "It did."

* * *

 **AN: Carren's Coffee I just made up. Haha. The stores and stuff too. Most of it's going to be made up. Because it's an AU! :P Lots of events in the first chapter! Wallaces...Grammys you know. 8) I'm making up so much stuff. But hey, it is an AU. I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANTTTTT! Lol, and I'm blending my own genius with real-world people. Like...I stole One D's album name. XD**

 **Also, call out to Coldplay, I love Viva la vida, and I couldn't resist putting it in here, cuz of you know...Marina's strings instruments. Plus, Jessica Crosbie's cover from The Voice is so good, considering she's a girl, and the song was made by boys. So, I thought, if she could, why can't Words Unspoken? XD**

 **Oh, and it is Ikari, Contest, Poke, Oldrival, and Quest. Don't worry, things'll all work out.**

 **I will probably not update for a while... like. Maybe 2 months. I really wanna get The Eevee Sisters finished. Thanks! But reviews are great! If I get enough feedback...I might be convinced to update in like...a couple weeks! XD Really depends on how much you guys like it! Thx.**

 **-Ange**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Wow! Didn't expect such a strong response!**

 **Well, after the encouraging reviews of...four people, don't get me wrong, that's awesome, I decided to update a little earlier than I planned. Heh heh.**

 **But I don't have like...any chapters written yet for this story...so welp, I guess we'll see where things leads us, eh? You guys will kinda have to be patient...I guess the wait for both Eevee Sisters and this story will extend a little. I don't have the time to write both at the same time. :C**

 **THIS IS AN IKARI FIC...DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ. sorry, that felt necessary. Or maybe I'm just insane. I also got this out really fast, technically because I'm writing for my other story too, but there might be some mistakes. I only glanced it over, if you see any glaring mistakes, I apologize...just go ahead and tell me, I'll fix it. Thx!**

 **Warning...some crude language. XD Gary might be too crude...dunno, tell me about it!**

* * *

"I'm so glad we decided to meet separately," Marina breathed happily as she sat down across from Jimmy with a croissant and her iced coffee. Jimmy nodded in agreement, shyly adjusting his baseball cap, staring at the Belgian waffles in front of him.

"I guess I just don't want to get to know the woman I'll spend at least the next ten years with...along with other people, you know?" Jimmy agreed, cutting off a slice and putting it into his mouth thoughtfully.

Marina tore a little bit of croissant off, and stuffed in her mouth, observing the handsome boy in front of her with curious eyes. "So how's life?"

Jimmy stared at her incredulously. "You start out a conversation with strangers, with 'So how's life'?"

"Nah, I usually don't," Marina said brightly, tossing a pigtail behind her shoulder, "But see, I've been dying to use that term with someone, and all my friends see my as this old fashioned, boring, old hag sometimes, so I don't usually find the right way to say it."

"Sure," Jimmy laughed, staring at Marina, almost in wonder. What did he do to deserve this girl?

"What're you staring at?" Marina asked uncomfortably.

"I just...I knew you modeled along with your playing but...wow. You're really pretty!" Jimmy said earnestly.

Marina let out a tinkling laugh. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome," Jimmy said sheepishly. "Stupid self, why'd you say that?"

Marina laughed again at Jimmy as he flushed with embarrassment. "Don't worry about it. Relax already, I don't bite."

"No?" Jimmy asked, leaning forwards to tear a piece of croissant off, dramatically biting into it. Marina smiled, holding back a smile. Maybe her timer was right. She sure liked the dark-blue haired boy, even after just the second meeting.

Jimmy flashed a smile as he chewed with full cheeks.

Marina gave a wide-eyed look. "Jimmy! Close your mouth! Etiquette!"

Jimmy swallowed, gulping down some milk with it before coughing for a few seconds. "That's so dry! Why do you eat a croissant of all things Marina? And why do you have to be so...so old fashioned?!"

"If you don't like that you can go fuck yourself," Marina huffed, her eyes flashing.

"Well, at least I know that she'll defend herself," Jimmy mused aloud, "That's a good thing I suppose."

"Will you stop talking to yourself and start talking to me again? I thought we were getting on pretty well," Marina complained.

"Sure Mar, I'll be sure to focus my attention on you for the rest of my life," Jimmy said dryly.

Marina smiled cheekily with childish-like glee. "Great!"

Jimmy shook his head and despite his complaining, he took another piece of the croissant, chewing thoughtfully. "This is going to be fun."

"Yeah sure, whatever you think," Marina nodded gracefully, doing a little jig in her seat.

"I'm sure you're so fun to hang around," Jimmy agreed, eating some more and then sipping his milk.

"Good etiquette," Marina said, approvingly, grinning wildly.

"Hey look," Jimmy whispered, leaning in to point towards the rest of the couples. "How are they getting along, you think?"

Marina liked this. It was comfortable and relaxed, but every time Jimmy opened his mouth, Marina tensed up for a rude remark. It kept her on her toes.

"Fine I think," Marina said, observing everyone. "I mean, they all look fine..."

* * *

"Hi," Leaf said, boredom echoing in her voice.

"Such a sweetheart like you shouldn't frown so much," Gary cooed, reaching over his pancakes to make Leaf's frown turn the other direction. Leaf glared at him grumpily, waving her fork threatening.

"Boy, do not touch me," She snapped. "Next time, I just might castrate you. Let's see how cocky you are then."

"Aww, is the pretty girl mad?" Gary smirked, leaning back and stretching his arms. Leaf growled, her eyes flashing as she stabbed her scone and waffles. She made a obscene gesture with her hand.

"Yes, I'm mad," Leaf said, her mouth twisted angrily. "Because you are an annoying prick."

"Is this going to be a name-calling relationship?" Gary asked, his eyebrows raised. He was quite unfazed as Leaf threw a piece of scone at him. "I can take that. You know it's pretty hot when a girl calls you names in bed. It...spurs the man on."

"Go to hell."

"Gladly if you'll fuck me there."

"You can go alone. Because your the only one that deserves it. And I won't be fucking you until I have to. Pervert. Disgusting jackass."

"Aww, but many women have told me I come from heaven."

"They must completely blind. And I'm not many women, am I? I'm not your typical, loose, celebrity."

"Hmm. I guess not. That makes me like you more. And who says I take loose women, I've taken virgins."

"That's absolutely disgusting. I still don't like you. In fact, I'm sure I hate you. And I'm sure you mean, 'I like you enough...but it could be better.'"

"I guess I'll have to make you like me, right? And no, I think I got pretty lucky on the soulmate thing. Pretty good-looking specimen. You might actually be the best I've ever had. Can't possibly wait for it."

That made Leaf mad.

"Whatever, you ass. Do you plan on forcing me to have sex with you?"

"What. What do you mean? I never force women, I only take the willing."

"I said, do you plan on forcing _me_ to have sex with you?"

"What?! That's how you start conversations with the person you have to spend your life with? Not my favorite color or something?" Gary asked, his face a light shade of red. "I mean, it's stupid."

"What? You seem like the sex kind of guy. Go out with a girl to get in her pants, so I though I'd find out if I'd be loosing my innocence by choice, or by force. You sound very eager and experience in the sexual department. I dunno, you tell me, are you that type of guy? _Gary?_ " Leaf asked, tapping her chin with a cunning look on her face.

Gary stared at her in amazement. Her small hands, her wide, green eyes, her long brown hair. She really was a beauty. And she was almost right. She had described him to a T, but he would never force women. Never mind Leaf. She was a beauty and kind, and gentle...and fiery.

"Well..." Gary started, but Leaf shot him a look.

"Okay, fine, maybe I am type of guy," Gary admitted, defeated. "But I've only gone out with like...twenty girls. It's not that much. You'll just be like..twenty-third or something."

Leaf's eyes darkened as she glared at him. "You make yourself sound innocent. ONLY TWENTY GIRLS!? I'm still a virgin I'll have you know! I'm not one of your conquests! I'm tied to you for the next ten years! I have to have two kids with you! How dare you talk to me like that?! You cruel, mean...heartless bastard!"

"Hey!" Gary said, reaching for her as Leaf started getting up, her hands trembling with hurt, anger and frustration.

"Don't touch me!" She spat angrily.

Gary faltered for a second, his normally cocky smirk sliding off his face, replaced with shock and guilt. Leaf stormed out of the cafe, the door pinging shut.

Gary stared after her with a melancholy look. "I should've known my soulmate was nothing like the other girls I've been with. I'm so stupid. I've messed this all up."

"Go after her you dumbass!" Paul called, his obsidian eyes glaring at him. "That's the only way to make it better!"

Gary thought for a moment before picking up her half-eating scone, following her out the door. "I've never done this before. What do I do now?"

* * *

"Well...you want to start?" May asked awkwardly, staring Drew's omelette.

Drew sighed deeply taking in the brunette beauty in front of him. He was a lucky man. "I don't really care."

"Hey!" May whined, waving her hand in Drew's face. "Don't stare at me!"

Maybe not so lucky.

"Well, I guess I'll start," Drew shrugged, sitting back with amusement.

"Good," May said with satisfaction, digging into her pancakes. "Full name, birthday, birthplace, family, friends, favorites...go on."

Drew stared at her for a moment. "Uh...Andrew Jackson Hayden. April 3rd. LaRousse, Hoenn. Rose Hayden, sister, Christian Hayden, dad, Jennifer Hayden mom. Paul, Gary, Jimmy, and Ash. My favorite food is probably cookies and brownies but that's pretty strange, huh?"

"No it's not! I love cookies and brownies! I love baking them too! We should do that sometime!" May said brightly.

Drew laughed at the bubbly brunette, dipping his head in agreement. "Why not? That sounds fun."

"Fun!? Of course it's fun! I like it! So it has to be fun," May said, smiling a little too much like Gary. Drew gave a shiver. May better not turn out to be like Gary or he would have a heart attack.

"Okay, you want to do that for our next...date? Is this called a date? I don't know. This is so strange," Drew muttered.

"Speaking of which, have you dated before?" May asked eagerly, leaning forwards to poke and his omelette, observing it before popping a bit of it into her mouth. She then proceeded to make a face that Drew thought was incredibly cute with her scrunched up nose and her eyes closed.

"I...um," Drew started, but shrank back awkwardly. "No?"

"That didn't seem very honest," May said innocently. Drew squirmed a little more.

"Well, I have gone out with girls...and taken them home...and I'm not a virgin...but I've never been emotionally involved with a relationship," Drew said awkwardly, rushing it all out.

"Well," May sighed disapprovingly. "That sucks for me."

"Why?" Drew asked, raising his eyebrows as he leaned forwards as if May was about to tell him a secret.

"Because I've never dated. Like...at all. And I'm still a virgin," May replied blandly, glaring at him. Just daring Drew to make a snide comment.

Drew hid his grin. If she hadn't glared at him, yeah...he probably would have made a comment.

"Okay, so maybe I don't find that impressive, but I like the idea that I get to teach you everything," Drew amended, his honesty clear in his voice. May huffed and took a big bite out of her pancakes, the syrup dripping onto her plate.

Drew looked a little queasy. "Do you really need that much sugar? Wouldn't you get fat?"

May immediately looked at her stomach, checking if for its fat content. "Uh...No? I'm not fat...I think."

"You're fine," Drew assured, checking out her stomach.

May glared at him. "Up here genius!"

"Nobody's called me that in while, but I'll take it!" Drew said, smiling cheekily.

May growled in anger. "Stop it! Stop...acting like...well. Just angering me!"

"Can't seem to make up your mind sweetheart?" Drew laughed, picking out a mushroom and eating it.

"Yes I can!" May argued. "I think your annoying and, and mean!"

"Aww, is that all?" Drew taunted, sticking out tongue teasingly.

"No...just that," May said sulkily.

Drew grinned a self-righteous smile, and placed his napkin politely on his plate, symbolizing that he was done. "Alright, I'm done. And when you're done, I'm taking you to the beach. Alone. None of them are coming along."

"Already trying to get me all to yourself?" May teased back. Drew shrugged lightly, grinning widely.

Drew liked making her mad and angry, because she looked so much more beautiful with red cheeks and flaming blue eyes. But he was already falling for the bubbly, gorgeous, brunette.

"Maybe."

"Hmm, sounds pretty possessive to me," May said, rolling her eyes.

"However you interpret it sweetheart," Drew smirked, reaching out a hand to pull her up. "Let's go. Before the others notice."

They thought they were being discreet, but the others all noticed as the pair left the cafe.

* * *

"I feel like I know you..." Misty said suspiciously, scrutinizing Ash under her glare.

Ash shrunk back and stared at her with fear. "Don't kill me! I don't know if I know you or something! Okay? But it isn't possible, otherwise our timers would've gone off!"

"Valid point," Misty agreed, taking a bite of bagel before going back to observing Ash with unnerving force.

"Maybe...you know my mom? My father? He's dead, by the way. I don't think you would've known Gary," Ash listed, leaning his arm against his propped up arm.

"Hmm...I did know a Mrs. Ketchum back from home. Perhaps, it's her?" Misty said, flipping her waffles absentmindedly. "Orange-brown hair? With sharp, kind eyes?"

"That's not descriptive at all Mist, but yes, my mom looks like that," Ash agreed.

Misty glared at him. "Mist?"

"Yeah, you know, short for Misty," Ash nodded, looking quite satisfied with himself.

Misty did not look happy. She picked at her waffles, before picking up and throwing a syrup drenched waffle at Ash's face. Ash's shocked expression emerged when the waffle slid down his face. That didn't deter Misty, as she threw her second one in his hair.

"Mew! What the hell Mist?" Ash yelled furiously, pulling clumps of soggy waffle out of his hair.

Misty glared once more and picked up the little bottle of syrup. And drizzled that all over his hair.

Ash was terribly aware of the snorts and giggles around the room. Not only where his friends laughing at him, but Misty's friends, and the staff as well! "Why does everyone hate me!?"

"Not everyone," Misty said evilly, leaning in, "Just me right now...and if you call me Mist again..."

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Ash yelped, blinking rapidly to keep the syrup out of his eyes.

"Good," Misty nodded, satisfied, plopping down and politely asking for some more waffles. With a light-hearted giggle behind her hand, the waitress complied.

Ash stared at her in horror. Dawn laughed at him from across the room, thinking he was faking his surprise.

"Why are you laughing? I'm scared! Someone save me!"

"Save you?" Misty grinned slyly, bopping his nose. "Why it's too late to save you!"

"Nooo!" Ash wailed as the waitress brought Misty a new plate of waffles with amusement. "I'm going to die!"

"Drama queen galore Dawn!" Misty called out teasingly.

Dawn grinned. "Yeah Mist! Enjoying the show!"

"You know, I'm actually extremely frightened, But my acting skills are on point!" Ash smiling crookedly lightly. Misty laughed heartily at that, reaching over to entwine their fingers, almost nervously.

Ash gave her another smile, and Misty relaxed into it, not a tense muscle in her body.

* * *

"I'm so jealous," Dawn sighed, her eyes indeed green with envy.

Paul wasn't envious. He was having fun watching his friends make a fool of themselves. And he wasn't looking for love. Being gifted in music was amazing in Hoenn.

His parents weren't in the Inner Circle, and he hoped they never would. So his only option was to succeed in the music industry if he wanted the life he wanted.

Everyone else had a good job, and good relax, go to clubs on the weekend, go to the movies, everyone had the money. But by being famous in the music industry, you were gifted with one thing.

Freedom.

It wasn't much freedom. Just enough to keep you alive and well. Just enough so that you were watched and contained, but enough so that Paul was free to help the resistance, and be protected from the Inner Circle. They couldn't kill the big-shots. The people that made them money.

They couldn't do that. And if they were watched and spied on, they complained, and the riots and protests would sky-rocket for the next few months.

So they were safe.

And Paul used that to the best of his advantage.

"I mean...when I was little, I always imagined me walking on the street, and suddenly, I see him, and my timer just flashes..." Dawn trailed off dreamily.

"I thought I would get my romantic ending...but watching my friends meet their soulmate, I just...I'm twenty-four. It seems like, well...I'll never find the right person," Dawn deflated, staring gloomily at her drink, watching a droplet of water slide down the cup.

Paul almost felt bad for the dejected girl. But Paul didn't feel. Right?

"I'm sure you'll find someone, Blue," Paul said with boredom, turning his phone over in the palm of his hand.

"Blue?" Dawn huffed. "What's with you boys and nicknames?"

"It's supposed to be endearing," Paul said matter-of-factually. He cocked his head, observing her with a clinical look.

"Right, but if they don't like the nickname, it's rather irritating," Dawn replied, sitting back and sipping her drink, currently distracted from her previous thought.

"Whatever. Annoying. Troublesome. That's it. You're troublesome and annoying. I'll just call you, Troublesome," Paul said with satisfaction, a faint smile twitching at his lips. He immediately frowned. Paul Shinji didn't smile. Ever.

Dawn looked upset. "I am not troublesome! I am perfectly normal!"

"You wrote Girlfriend," Paul said flatly.

"Yeah?" Dawn huffed, taking another sip.

"It's repetitive and has no meaning. Plus, in this world where things are all controlled by the Inner-" Paul stopped, unsure.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Of course I know how corrupt the government is. Go on."

"Anyways," Paul began again hesitantly. "In a world with the Inner Circle and the timers...don't you think dating is a little pointless? It's not like it'll matter."

Dawn seemed to pause and actually think about that for a second. "Well...no. Because do you know how timers work? I researched them in 7th grade-"

"Falling asleep, get to the important parts," Paul interrupted.

Dawn shot him a dirty look. "Anyways, basically, love is not really a finite thing. Your soulmate is the one your most likely to fall in love with. The one with the most traits that you like. But love changes people. I've seen people date, and fall in love, and at some point, their timers just go off. Because the mechanism just...get it. It realizes that their soulmates are no longer who they were born to meet, its become each other. You get it? So dating's not pointless. Plus...there's always the girlfriend, boyfriend business when its just no-strings attached _blank_. If you know what I mean."

Paul rolled his eyes at Dawn's lengthy explanation, "Sure, I guess. Genius."

"Hey! I'm actually one of the smartest WU girls! After Mar and Leaf of course!" Dawn protested indignantly.

"That leaves you in third..." Paul said dryly.

"So?" Dawn said snootily, lifting her nose up.

Paul was tempted to laugh at her, but then he reminded himself that Paul Shinji didn't laugh, and he didn't smile, he didn't joke, and surely didn't like to talk. So why was he doing those things with this...strange girl he had never met before? Well...before last night that was.

"So, who else is looking particularly entertaining?" Dawn asked, propping herself up on her elbow.

Paul shrugged indifferently. "I dunno. I don't particularly care either."

They were sitting by a window booth staring outside, taking note of all the paparazzi hovering near the glass, and everyone else walking the fashionable streets of Hollywood, Hoenn.

The weather was balmy, so many of the women were wearing skirts and dresses, while the men were in shorts and wife-beaters.

Dawn was having quite some fun making fun of their fashion choices. She had wistfully wished for Serena more than once.

But Paul didn't seem so interested, just completely bland and going along with it.

"Oh! That lady! Her flowery dress? Uegh! It's gross, remember to tell me to never wear that sort of stuff," Dawn said animatedly, her hands whipping around. "I mean, the way it frames her body, it's completely off! It just...doesn't work."

Paul raised his eyebrows at her statement. Remind her? After all this, he wouldn't be seeing her. At all. Never again. He didn't like this preppy, bubbly, annoyingly happy girl. She could go bother someone else.

"-oh! That is one nice dressed paparazzi lady. Ugh, not her. Ursula. She's such a spoiled little brat. I mean, just because her dad's in the Inner Circle doesn't make her a good singer. I mean, for God's sake, her voice is shrill and painful! The only good thing about her, is her extreme range. Otherwise...Hey look! There's Luke! I'm tempted to call him...nah, I'll just text him!" Dawn said cheerfully. "Ah ha! Here his number."

The room seemed unnaturally quiet without her talking, but the phone bleeping seemed to almost make up for the . It made him uneasy. Dawn shouldn't be in a room, and not talking...it just wasn't right. He could tell, even if he barley knew this strange girl, who was basically the opposite of everything he stood for.

"So what he'd say?" Paul muttered awkwardly, running a hand unconsciously through his hair. "Who even is he?"

"Hmm?" Dawn looked up in surprise. That was the first time Paul actually instigated conversation. "Oh, Luke's a friend of ours...he's an actor."

Paul snorted. Actors.

"Anyways, Luke wants to come over here from across the street, but I told him that our friends having their weird date thing. And I'm just wasting time with you. He said okay and see? There he goes."

For some reason, it ticked off Paul a lot. Wasting time? Paul wasn't a waste of time. Most of the time, it was girls flocking to him, but he had to constantly brush them off. Dawn seemed just like the others, but now that he thought about it, she did seem a lot more reluctant to hang out with him than he would have assumed from someone like her. But it was kinda strange to Paul that she seemed so...blunt.

"I'm a waste of time," Paul mumbled, the lilt in his voice making it into a question.

"Well, we're just starting to be famous, which means a lot of magazines and newspapers are eager to get us into studio and stuff. I actually had quite a few interviews, but Iris made me cancel and Aralyn literally dragged me to Yola's this morning. I wanted to sleep in after she cancelled, but hey, I'm here, right?" Dawn said.

"Ng," Paul grunted, turning to look back outside at the tropical, native flowers everywhere.

"You like the flowers?" Dawn asked, following his line of sight.

"They're okay. The Sinnoh ones are better," Paul shrugged, not even catching his mistake.

"Sinnoh? They closed their borders long before you would be able to see their flowers," Dawn pointed out suspiciously.

Paul stiffened barley, his mouth ghosting into a 'o'.

"No answer? You've been acting like its so surprising all of sudden. What're you hiding?" Dawn questioned.

"Nothing, nothing that newcomers need to know. You might find out if you prove yourself later," Paul said tightly, his eyes cold and unfeeling. "Don't you dare you speak of this again."

"No! You need to tell me what this is about. We need to know what we're getting into," Dawn persisted.

"We?" Paul hissed, his hand reaching over to grip Dawn's arm tightly.

"Yeah...me and the girls. Words Unspoken. We're in this together. We do everything together," Dawn whispered, her eyes wide with fright. Paul felt the adrenaline from the sudden fear Dawn's prodding caused, but he felt so guilty for hurting her. For scaring her.

Paul let go, and sat back, his eyes slightly shocked in his own actions.

"I'm sorry," Paul muttered bluntly. "I just, this is very private information that I should not have even hinted towards at all. I apologize. I, I have to go now. It was...very pleasant talking to you."

 _Liar. You sound happy to be out of here. It was not 'very pleasant' talking to me. I can tell._ Dawn thought heavily, shrugging.

Paul nearly sprinted out the door, his breath already coming out hard and fast. Dammit. He wasn't supposed to tell people. Dark Truth never spoke of what happened behind the scenes. No, that's not how it worked. And they had been really good about it too. Never slipping up, never giving it away. And Paul had been the best out of all of them.

So how had he revealed so much to one annoying, albeit beautiful he had to admit, bluenette?

* * *

 **AN: What's going on with Paul? Hmm? I guess we just have to see!**

 **Thx for reading! Have a great day, wherever you are! For me? :D**

 **I might be slightly late with Eevee Sisters...but swimming started again this week, so I'm back to being busy busy busy!**

 **-Ange**


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: Here's the next chapter!**

 **I'm feeling very cheery writing this. Dunno why. Thanks Lorelei! For letting me borrow your name. Badass Lorelei. ;)**

 **Just a reminder...for all the ships 'cept Ikari...well, this is a world where they grow up, learning about Timers. Their worlds revolve around Timers. Literally. They've been taught to anticipate, and accept their soul mates, so I know its moving a bit fast...but that's just how things are in their world. You don't get a choice, so you might as well try and find happiness. Plus, you can't survive the wave taxes unless you have met your soul mate. Plus, there's no jealousy and stealing boyfriends after you meet your soulmate...cuz you won't ever have another soul mate, unless they die.**

 **So one of my best friends, she has a crush on this boy, who's also one of my best friends, and her mother knows, so when her mother asked the boy a bunch of questions, me, her, and another one of our friends were giggling so hard. It was so awkward. And obvious that she liked him, but he couldn't tell which one it was, and he thought that they were laughing at something I said... -.- why are boys so oblivious sometimes? I'd love it if they got together! XD**

 **But you guys don't care about my life. YOU'RE HERE TO READ! ;)**

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Misty questioned, gently turning Dawn's stunned body around, her hand still strangely grasped in Ash's.

"I don't know," Dawn said shakily, staring at the door that was swinging on it's hinges, back and forth, back and forth. "He just grabbed me when I started asking questions. I don't know. And then...I was so scared."

"Paul can be an asshole sometimes, if you touch on topics he doesn't like to talk about," Ash offered, starting to pull Misty back towards their food. Misty followed reluctantly.

"Wow," Dawn sighed, rubbing her arm in shock. "I cannot even begin to describe what he just did. I'm tempted to call him. Nah...I won't. Should I go stalk Drew and May?"

"I don't know," Dawn shook her head, staring after the fading figure of Paul. "I suppose I should go after him, shouldn't I?"

Dawn continued staring after him as he got smaller and smaller. "Alright. I'll go after him."

She pushed open the store door, the bell chiming happily as she sadly walked out. "Did I do something wrong?"

He disappeared into the passenger side of the silver car, and Dawn felt another wave of sadness.

Why did this situation feel so familiar?

She trudged towards their own car, ruefully thinking about how the other girls would get back.

Nah, they could take a taxi or something. They were famous, they had the money, why fight over one car?

Dawn slipped in, settling back into the seat for a moment, enjoying the amazing cushions. "Mmm."

"Alright, let's go. I assume he's going back to their place, yeah? Maybe I should just follow him," Dawn thought aloud, switching the gear and following the car. But as she pulled up behind the car, she was hit by a sudden realization.

Of course.

* * *

 _"Sweetheart, just stay here, okay?" Daddy said shakily, his hand cold and rough against Dawn's cheek. The gun in his other hand fell to the floor as he cupped Dawn's cheeks tightly, making streaks of dirt across her porcelain skin._

 _He pressed a kiss to Dawn's sweaty forehead, whispering forbidden prayers and desperate pleas against her._

 _"I love you Blue. So much. Whatever happens, I love you. Tell Mommy I love her too, okay? Love you."_

 _Dawn could feel the prick of tears already. "Daddy? What's happening?"_

 _"Darling, just stay there," Daddy said firmly, his entire body shaking. "Sweetheart, I'll be right back, stay right there. Stay quiet, okay? Whatever you do, stay quiet. Stay here, and don't make a sound. They're coming for the storage. Daddy has to go help Mommy and Caroline, okay? We have to hold back the Inner Circle agents. The storage is too important! May and Misty are in another safe room. Lock the door after me sweetheart. Don't open the door for anyone. If they can get it, they're good."_

 _"No! Daddy! Where are you going?" Dawn cried, reaching her chubby little arms out, confusion all over her face. "NO! You can't go! You won't survive it this time! Mommy said there were 100 agents! Twenty rebels won't hold them back! Daddy one of you will die! Stay here with me Daddy! Let them go! Don't leave me here! You can't go like Mommy!"_

 _Dawn's father felt a wave a sadness. In what world does a seven year old worry about her parents' lives? She was so young...but even now she understood the importance of what they were doing. How many loved ones were dying._

 _"Sorry, I can't sweetheart. I love you, but this is too important. I'm sorry. I'm going nowhere! Just stay there, Blue! Stay right there," he choked out, backing away slowly towards the door. "Shhh. I love you Blue. Okay? Can you stay here and be quiet? I know you can. Me and mommy will survive."_

 _Dawn felt the tears welling up in the back of her throat. "Daddy! You can't go! You know you can't."_

 _"Bye. Bye Blue," he whispered softly, before closing the door behind him, taking the sliver of light with him. "I love you. I love you so much beautiful girl. I'll see you in a couple hours. After this is all over."_

 _Dawn sobbed silently as she reached up to twist the lock into place. When it clicked, she fell to the floor, keeping in her cries._

 _The gunshots started a few seconds later. Then the yelling._

 _"Caroline! Norman! NO!"_

 _"Quick! Johanna that one!"_

 _"NO!"_

 _"YES!"_

 _"Die!"_

 _"Wake up!" You're still alive! Come on!"_

 _Then the sirens came. And then the terrible silence._

 _That was the worst part. When everything went silent. Dawn learned that as a 4 year old. When her aunt and uncle had been taken from them. And Lukie had left for Hollywood._

 _"Daddy?" Dawn asked quietly to the dark room. "Where are you? Mommy?"_

 _Nobody responded._

 _All Dawn could feel was abandonment. Why had Daddy left?_

 _"Daddy?"_

 _Was anyone coming for her?_

 _Dawn couldn't help but feel dread._

 _"I don't think Daddy's coming back."_

* * *

 _"Blue, I need you to stay calm, okay? If anything happens, you run, okay? You run. You're good at it Dawn, remember those competitions with Luke? Who can run the fastest? That was to train you. To Misty's house, to May's house, I don't care who you run to, run to one of your friends, okay? YOU RUN," Johanna said calmly to 11-year old Dawn._

 _Dawn couldn't find her voice, so she nodded numbly. She could feel her eyes dilating in fear and panic._

 _The mother and daughter sat resolutely in silence for a few minutes. As the loud pounding steps approached the house, Johanna sprang into action._

 _"Sweet girl, they're going come soon, I want you to go out the window, and run. Run the mile to May's house, Misty's too far away. Tell her mum that The Waiting has passed. Okay?" Johanna breathed softly, cracking the window open just big enough so that Dawn could get out._

 _"I love you Blue."_

 _Dawn's blue eyes connected with identical ones for one last second, before she slipped out of the house and was gone. The dusty, barely prints of her bare feet was all that was left._

 _Johanna breathed in deeply, crossing her fingers that Dawn would make it to May's house okay. As long as Dawn lived._

 _Dawn focused on her breathing as she heard the soft pats of her feet flying across the dirt and grass, feeling the familiar curve of the ground as it met her callused feet._

 _The wind whipped at her, making her eyes water, her breathing hard and labored. The long grass brushed against her bare legs as Dawn ran, and barely rustled._

 _In, out, in out._

 _The image of Mommy staring determinedly after Dawn, scared her._

 _The last time she looked like that, her dad had died._

 _"NO!" Dawn whisper-shouted into the night, staring at the large, gold moon with blurry eyes._

 _She couldn't think about that. All she could focus on was running. Get to May's house._

 _Dawn stumbled over her own feet when the first gunshot rang._

 _"No..." She breathed, on the brink of tears._

 _And then there was a large explosion. She slowed down and turned to look at the burning house. It was an angry, glaring orange as its flames reared back and reached for the stars._

 _"NO!" Dawn shouted, turning and running blindly as she tore through the grass with more fevor. "NO!"_

 _She passed into the forest, but she didn't stop. She sprinted on top of the pine needles, the branches, she didn't care how bloody and gory her feet were. She had lost everyone. Everyone...had left her._

 _Her aunt and uncle...her cousin, her dad, and now?_

 _They took her mom too._

 _And in that moment, Dawn felt a surge of anger at the people who had taken them. But she didn't know who it was._

 _She tore through the undergrowth, charging towards May's house silently, sobbing and heaving._

 _When Caroline found the bloodied, tired, and distraught girl, it was too late to do anything. She guided Dawn to the couch where May and Max were watching the television, and when May say Dawn's rumpled form, she ran forwards to help her onto the couch._

 _"Come on sweetheart, everything will be a little better tomorrow."_

 _"T-the W-wai...mommy told me to tell you..." Dawn stuttered as May wrapped her arms around her best friend. "S-she says...That The Wait is over..."_

 _Caroline nodded grimly, sharing a pointed look with Norman. He got up, breathing up deeply as he turned towards the kitchen, giving Dawn a worried look._

 _"OK, Dawn, let's get you to bed, come on," Caroline sighed, gently leading her upstairs. May looked after them with a worried look._

 _What was going on?_

* * *

"Stupid girl, asking stupid questions! Whoever is her soulmate better watch out. She's going to ruin everything for them," Paul muttered to himself. "Too much trouble that girl. Troublesome girl."

"Aren't you being too quick to judge?" Brock sighed, turning the wheel sharply. "Sounds to me like she got under your skin. And no one gets under the mighty Paul Shinji's skin."

"No, she didn't. I'm not judging," Paul said gruffly. "She's just that annoying."

"Hmm, sure. They'd be a good assets-"

"Stop. No way. I'm not going to make them join, okay? Just...leave it alone," Paul muttered, turning to face the window. "They might look resourceful, but for all you know, they could be Inner Circle croonies. Okay?"

"You know they're not," Brock said condescendingly. "If anything, Dawn would have just as much reason to hate them as you do."

"What do you mean?" Paul snapped, turning around to glare intensely at Brock.

"Nothing, that's private, if you want to know...you talk to her, it's her choice," Brock said vaguely.

"Fine, whatever. Where are we going?" Paul said, his voice still emotionless.

"The Base, you know?" Brock said quickly through the corner of his mouth, hoping that the street cameras didn't catch that.

Paul simply nodded, and Brock knew that he was absolutely fine with that.

Brock stared at the side-mirror, sighing when he noticed Dawn following them. Should he tell Paul? Or just leave it?

In the end, he just left her. If she came and found The Base...then they would deal.

"Alright, I'm just dropping you off, are you shooting and stuff? Yeah?" Brock asked, changing gear as he leaned out of the window to talk to Paul who was looking through his bag.

"Hm? Yeah, probably. I'll get a ride home. Go take the boys," Paul nodded, immediately spinning around to go inside, bag slung across his shoulders.

"That kid," Brock sighed as he backed out, staring at Paul's receding back, similarly like Dawn had before. "I swear he is the most talented kid we have, with an actual amazing voice, but he honestly should start showing some respect. He's not the only one who has lost family."

Paul grimaced as he pressed his fingertips into his temples, grumbling under his breath.

Stupid Dawn. Stupid Brock. Why did the world just want him to remember that night?

* * *

 _"No, Paul, stay with Reggie, I don't care what you do, okay sweetheart? Stay safe, I need to take out your father," Lorelei said softly, nudging 13-year old Paul towards Reggie's safe arms._

 _"Mom?" Paul asked stiffly, turning back to look at the ashy woman._

 _"Just stay with Reggie. Reggie, you know what you need to do," Lorelei breathed, staring at her older son seriously. Reggie nodded once in agreement before steering Paul out of the way and down the hall, to the protective, bulletproof rooms._

 _Paul was much more mature than most kids were at his age. He knew what was going on. He knew, that our of the three of them...at least one of them wouldn't make it._

 _But the two boys never made to the rooms._

 _One of the Inner Circle grunts snickered as Reggie collapsed. He had aimed for the smaller Shinji, but the older one had stepped in, shoving Paul towards the safe rooms, while the path was still open._

 _"Go, go to the rooms! Don't go after...mom," Reggie had pleaded, shoving Paul towards the safe rooms. "Love you."_

 _Paul nodded, wrapping his arms around Reggie in a rare hug. Reggie grinned weakly before the light left his eyes. Paul ran a hand over Reggie's eyes, gently closing them. He stopped the wave of guilt and anger. Now was not the time._

 _"I've got you," Paul whispered as a goodbye, taking one last, lingering look at him. He might not have agreed with his brother on everything, but he loved him. And he also loved his mother, so he would not be going to the safe rooms. Sorry Reggie._

 _His father needed to go down._

 _That bastard needed to go down._

 _Paul crouched to the ground, running along the wall. He knew some of the techniques the rebels practiced. How could he not? He practically lived in The Base. He picked up a fallen gun, and loaded it, hoping that it wouldn't fire by itself._

 _As the shouts and panic levels elevated, Paul felt some shrapnel cut him deeply in his leg. Paul gritted his teeth and kept moving._

 _He got to a room with the door ajar, and Paul heard his mom's voice._

 _"You bastard. I didn't choose to leave you. You gave me no choice. You wanted me to kill my own father, so you could be in the new Inner Circle. My father was one of the most important government officials in Sinnoh! But he moved to Hoenn, to help quench the evilness hovering here. And you! You got caught up in wanting power and money! I thought you loved me. Loved Reggie and Paul. But I guess I was wrong," Lorelei hissed angrily, circling the purple-haired man._

 _"Oh Lorelei...I did love you," he sighed sadly, staring at her forlornly, yet pointing his gun straight at her. "I just loved the power thrill more."_

 _With that, Lorelei moved._

 _She was like a snake, darting forwards and knocking his gun out of his hand, while her other hand came over and shot a bullet straight into his leg. Then she backed away, still wary and careful of the guard who was supposed to be protecting the Inner Circle man._

 _He took aim at her, but Lorelei pointed her gun at the purple-haired man again, making sure to get across her intentions. The guard backed away uncertainly._

 _"Bitch," the purple-haired man groaned, clutching at his leg with fury. "How dare you!"_

 _Lorelei smirked, almost smugly. "I'm going to make you suffer as much as you have made me and your boys."_

 _"Suffer?" Devin smiled, blood trickling out of his mouth and smearing. "Sweetheart, you already have. When you chose to leave me."_

 _"Liar," Lorelei hissed, her stare angry. "You bastard. Stop trying to trick me into letting you go. You think I didn't know about what you did to Jennifer? You could have blinded my best friend. You think I didn't know about it?"_

 _As they carried on their conversation, Paul slipped into the room, inching along the darkened walls, towards the guard who was still debating whether to shoot the woman or not. And when he got behind him, he fired._

 _The gunshot echoed through the small room. Lorelei immediately ducking, while Devin could do nothing._

 _The guard slumped to the ground, dead. The rebels had taught him well._

 _But that was the distraction Devin needed as he lurched forwards, gripping at his blood-slicked gun._

 _"Lorelei, my dear, I was going to give you a second chance...before I took what I needed. You need to be married to be in the Inner Circle...you know? And I wanted to give Paul and Reggie the best of the best...but you ruined it for all of them. I should known you would be selfish and join the rebels. You deserve this," Devin said lowly._

 _And with that, he fired._

 _But not at Lorelei._

 _Lorelei ducked and swung her own gun up, aiming with deadly precision, and shooting. But it was too late._

 _The bullet flew towards Paul, who was too shocked to move.  
_

 _"NO!" Lorelei cried, throwing herself forwards, blocking the bullet._

 _And then Paul's world came crashing down._

 _And then he went wild, shooting until he ran out of bullets. And somehow, Devin had only been hit four times, and only once in the torso. He was somehow...still alive. Paul threw the gun onto the floor with disgust._

 _He carried his mother out, who was still breathing lightly, before locking the door, hoping that Devin would bleed out._

 _"I love you mom don't die on me," Paul muttered shakily setting her down and inspecting her wound._

 _"You haven't told me that in a long time, sweet boy," Lorelei said with a faraway look in her eyes._

 _"You idiot boy...you should have gone to the safe rooms," Lorelei murmured weakly, smiling as she reached for Paul's face._

 _"I know mom...but I couldn't let you go to, not when Reggie..." Paul's voice broke._

 _"He died for you, didn't he?" Lorelei smiled sadly._

 _"Yeah mom, he did. But your not going die. Come on, let's get you some help," Paul said determinedly, scooping her up with a bit of a struggle._

 _"No Paul! It's too dangerous, I won't make it anyways...go to the safe rooms. Wait it out. Then go with Drew's mom. You know what you have to do," Lorelei sighed, her voice already more breathy._

 _No! Paul couldn't do this twice in a day. He couldn't' loose both of them._

 _"No, mom, I'm getting you to saftey first," Paul argued, walking down the hall, past the shouts and yells, to the safe rooms with medical supplies._

 _"Password?"_

 _"Dolphin."_

 _"Come in."_

 _And Paul got inside safely with his dying mother._

 _But when the doctor was done looking at the bullet wound, and extracted the bullet buried in her gut...it was too late._

 _And when he told Paul, the boy collapsed._

 _His world has just ended._

* * *

"Dammit," Dawn sighed as they pulled up to the large, intimidating building. "Not here again. We've already been embarrassed once."

 _Dolphin Recording Studios_ was written in large, shimmery, blue letters, high above the revolving doors. The building was only four stories tall, but all glinting windows and beautiful architecture. It was one of the most prestigious recording companies in the region.

Dark Truth recorded there, and once, when Marina had gone on a whim, following Ursula back to Studio Road(where all the recording studios in the city resided), the girls had thought she had gone into Dolphin Recordings, but instead had gone in Platinum Recording Studios, the one specially made for Inner Circle families. Most couldn't sing, but was simply 'famous' because they were part of the Inner Circle.

The girls had pranked Brianna, a nicer girl from Dolphin, and felt pretty bad afterwards. Their pink hair looked pretty similar.

The one good thing that came out of it was the friendship that blossomed between all of them.

"I can't believe, that out of all the places he chooses to go to, he chooses to go to this building?! I mean...I know he records here and all," Dawn sighed, climbing out anyways, walking inside with awe.

She'd been here enough, but it still gave her the chills.

It just gave off an ominous, scary feeling, yet it felt warm and regal. Like a castle.

Dawn quickened her steps as she chased after Paul, who now had a workout bag slung around his shoulders. What was he doing with that? Dawn thought it was a recording studio. Not a gym...

"Paul!"

He turned slowly, almost angrily.

"Why the hell are you here?"

Dawn felt her hopeful heart sink.

"I wanted to apologize for pestering you," she muttered shyly. "I'm sorry."

"Well now your just pestering me more, go away," Paul snapped spinning on his heel back towards the hallway filled with rooms.

"I just wanted to say sorry," Dawn called, chasing after him again. "It just sparked interest in me! Because my past is kinda filled with the Inner Circle!"

When Paul heard the clicking of heels, he felt even more anger. "What part of leave me alone do you not understand Dawn? I don't care about your relationship with the Inner Circle!"

"I just want to talk! To explain why I was so curious!" Dawn yelped as she tripped a bit, swinging out an arm to catch herself. Paul reluctantly steadied her.

He quickly walked down the hall, knowing that Dawn would follow. He went in a room and shut the door.

"Okay, what?"

"I just," Dawn muttered uncomfortably. "The Inner Circle took everything of mine. My aunt and uncle, my parents...and they took my cousin from me as well. And so...I guess everything you said I could relate to, I just thought I'd tell you that. I know you weren't comfortable telling me all of that. It was just the heat of the moment thing. That's okay. I'll go now. Again, I'm sorry."

Paul was shocked. He had thought that Dawn had brought Words Unspoken up through the Inner Circle, as in, she was working for them. So of course he was distrustful.

Dawn seemed so down and sad, reaching for the doorknob, ready to slip through and leave.

"Dawn. Wait."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the cliffy.**

 **huh. Guess who has similar pasts?! THAT'S RIGGGHT! XD They're so adorable. I love Ikari. I love Contest more, but Ikari is sooo fun to write! ;)**

 **Please review! I love all the awesome comments! It really makes me want to prioritize this more than I have...:)**

 **-Ange**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: Ayee I'm back. Sorry for the lateness... But here you go! New chapter. There was 1 review. :( so its a bit late(okay, a lot late) because I want to get eevee sister done.**

 **I apologize that everything is a little fast...but the thing is like I said last chapter(the one review I got said it's moving fast), is that Ikari will probably be the only one nice, slow and gentle. The others will be fast, passionate...and accepting(except for one, figure it out). Because they've just been raised to want their soulmate. It's the only thing they know. How can they not accept them?**

 **Also...does any other authors out there get this horrible sinking feeling when it's a new month, and the stats just look...so blank? :D**

 **Sorry if any of the characters seem OOC. It's just that...well, everything everyone goes through in this story, shapes and changes them. Their soulmates change them. And the bond between all of them is what gets them through all the hard times that are to come! XD Keep reading! I won't keep you any longer.**

* * *

"What," Dawn sighed, not turning around, but stopping nonetheless.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh," Paul said quietly, with such openness and vulnerability that Dawn immediately stopped.

"Sorry?" Dawn whispered. She wasn't even sure what that word meant anymore. Sorry? No one was sorry in this world.

"Yes. I'm sorry," Paul said stiffly. "For being mean, when I didn't need to. Sorry. It's just a self-preservation instinct."

"Sorry?"

"Yes," Paul replied impatiently. "Now are you going to listen to my explanation?"

"I don't know," Dawn said teasingly. "You didn't want to listen to me."

Paul didn't know how to respond. Seriously? Or just as jokingly? Paul didn't do jokingly. That's just not how things worked for Paul.

"I guess, but like you said, I just want to explain," Paul said with a half-smile. Dawn flashed him another bright grin before sitting down and making a 'continue on' gesture.

Paul explained everything of his family's involvement with the rebels.

"My father was the most despicable man I have ever known. Before, when my mom and him first met, he was a perfect gentleman, and he was funny and kind. Of course, they fell in love and got married. Then came along me and Reggie. He was a great dad," Paul paused wistfully there.

"I still remember bare glimpses. When I was five, he started changing. He wanted a higher pay, more say in the company he worked at. He ordered my mom around. He ordered us around. And at one point, it got so bad that he actually wanted my mom to kill her own dad so he could take his spot in the government. You know how blood is the only way to get into the government. If one man dies, only their family members can take their spot. And only the men. So my dad would have the position of Grandpa died. My mom refused and I remember him hitting her. I remember how Reggie defended her, and got hit too. I was too scared to do anything. He looked really scary.

But then he heard of the Inner Circle, the elite, rich, power-hungry bastards out there gathering. So of course he joined. And you know the next part. The Inner Circle came and overthrew the government. He killed my grandpa, and gave Mom and ultimatum. Divorce and hand over the kids, or stay married and stay with us kids. My mom didn't choose either. She ran with us. To the rebels, which already had formed, but now they had a new goal. Not just to help people who were trapped in the weak, corrupt government that the Inner Circle controlled mostly anyways. Now they actually had to overthrow them. Well, everything fell apart after that."

Paul stared out of the window wistfully, his eyes trailing along the white clouds, skimming over the skyscrapers.

"He tried to storm a rebel camp in the city, knowing that we were hiding there. And generally tried to kill as many people as possible. My mom and my brother died for me that day."

Dawn reached out a comforting hand, but Paul held up an arm to stop her. "I don't want your pity."

"It's not pity," Dawn sighed, "When will you give up your pride? It's sympathy, and understanding. I lost my parents to the rebels. And my aunt and uncle. I never got to know them, I barely knew my dad, and my mom was the worst. How do you abandon the one person who you love without condition? It doesn't make any sense. But I did it anyways."

"I left my mom for the Inner Circle, _goons_. Most of them were men. I'm pretty sure she went through a lot of torture before she died. And I could've stayed and helped her. She could have came with me. But I was too scared. Too damn scared."

Paul was silent.

"I'm not going to tell you that I'm sorry."

Dawn smiled ruefully, "Oh, I know. You don't exactly seem like that sort of guy. But I'm sorry for your loss. Simply because I know what it's like."

Paul chuckled darkly. "I'm not that type of guy? Maybe if you knew forty ways to kill a man, or all of the weapons in existence, you'd be pretty cold, hmm? Oh, and you're planning to use those skills to kill your own father. Maybe then you'd understand."

"Stop being so cocky," Dawn shrugged, "We've learned how to protect ourselves too, you know."

Paul's obsidian eyes narrowed as he observed her. Then quick as a snake, his hands darted out, aiming for Dawn's neck. Dawn smirked and ducked. His hands were fast, but not fast enough.

Dawn's own hand shot up and ensnared Paul's, and pulled him forwards, using his own weight against him, and threw him across the room. Paul stumbled back a couple of steps before smirking back.

"Not bad, Troublesome."

Dawn furrowed her eyebrows. "Troublesome?"

Paul gave her a rare smile, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Yeah. Because all you seem to do is cause trouble."

"I do not!" Dawn said childishly, flapping her arms in protest.

Paul gave her an unimpressed look. "Suure."

"It's true," Dawn said, her hands on her hips.

Paul shot her one last dubious look before standing up and grabbing his bag. _If she asks, I'll take her to training. If not-_

"So where is this rebel base, training stuff? I want to get into this," Dawn asked, bouncing forwards to open the door.

Paul sighed. Of course she would remember.

"Come on, let's go, I'll show you the training. But you have to keep quiet. You can't tell your friends. Unless their soulmate tells them, well, you just can't, okay?" Paul made sure Dawn saw the seriousness in his eyes before he let her follow him.

"Yeah, I know. But their families are all in the rebel system I bet," Dawn offered. "May's family and Misty's are all in there. Marina's Misty's cousin, and Leaf's been all alone, but her family died for the rebel cause as well."

"Really?" Paul mused quietly to himself. "When we get down there, we can check their last name. If they're in there, well, I guess we can trust them."

"They'll be there," Dawn affirmed, hopping down the stairs. "I mean, Caroline and Norman practically raised me after my mom died. Just saying. I think I would know if they were in the rebel organization."

"Whatever, I'll check anyways. This is serious stuff. Normally, Brock would be handling this stuff. His dad was also in the Inner Circle, but was killed in a rebel raid. His mother disappeared after that. His siblings actually live at the rebel base below this building. Quite a few people live here. This is mostly a front. Everyone that Dolphin records, is pretty much in the rebel cause," Paul told Dawn.

Dawn nodded, "I'm sure there are lots of people out there who had experienced pain and other such things because of the Inner Circle."

"Mine, yours, Brock's, all of us boys, and quite a bit of strangers have lost family to the stupid, arrogant Inner Circle. What do you want me to say?" Paul stepped off the last stair as he opened the door casually for Dawn.

Dawn smiled in thanks and flounced through the door, slowing down in awe.

"Good Lord, what _is_ this place?"

Paul gave a proud half-smile, "Welcome the the rebel base."

"Rebel base? More like military camp! Oh my God!" Dawn spun around slowly, taking in everything.

The pair was technically standing in the dining hall, and to their left, their was the large living quarters, the only area where their were walls for privacy. The rest of the room was a wide expanse of space.

There was the shooting range, close combat station, weaponry, armory, obstacle course, work out space, living quarters, dining hall, and it was all in a giant underground cavern.

The shooting range had an assortment of dummies, targets, and simple sandbags hanging from the ceiling. It was in the far left, taking up the entire expanse of the wall, but only took up a little width.

The close combat station was mostly mats with everything you could want if you wanted to train for wrestling, boxing, or really any sport that was physical and up close. There were even trainers and other helpers that would spar with you if you so chose. That was to the right of the shooting range, and to the left of the weaponry and armory.

Weaponry had everything from guns, to bow and arrows. There were swords, as well as darts and shurikens. It really was an assortment of all sorts of weapons. It was next to the armory, the close combat station, and the work out space.

The armory had different clothes for fighting, work out clothes, actual decent armor, bullet-proof vests, etc. It was next to the weaponry, the close combat station, and the work out space.

The obstacle course had fire, knives, mud, and thousands of other deadly obstacles. Did they kill people in here? It bordered the dining hall to the left, and the close combat station, the armory, and the work out space to the right.

The work out space, was literally a work out room. Weights, a track, and an assortment of different other machines. It was next to the obstacle course, the weaponry and the armory.

The living quarters took up most of the space in the cavern, and they held the safe rooms, where you had to go even further underground. It bordered the dining hall and shooting range.

The dining hall wasn't really just a dining hall, it's where the rebels gathered in a group, it also contained the kitchen, and another assortment of smaller, conference rooms with walls.

"My God, how did you guys even get this built? It's bloody amazing!" Dawn gaped, walking slowly forward.

"I know," Paul said, a tint of smugness in his voice. "We have almost 2 billion dollars together, you think we can't get this done? It's also serves as a bunker. Bombs won't break through, nearly everything is bulletproof, and everyone here knows how to protect themselves. This is pratically paradise compared to what everyone else has to go through. We have at least twice as many rebels who are out there in the Inner Circles' books, so they can't just escape and hide down here. They have to live up there and pay their taxes. Most of the people down here are 'criminals', or people have disappeared completely from Hoenn."

"That's amazing, I didn't know it was so organized," Dawn said, "But what about the people who live in other cities or in the surburban areas?"

"We've got them covered by patrols, we have rebels hidden in the organization. We've thought of everything," Paul explained.

"I'm sure you have," Dawn said eagerly, "Now show me around!"

Paul muttered darkly at her obvious enthusiasm, but took the lead and started towards the shooting range.

"This is the shooting range," Paul sighed with boredom, gesturing slowly. He slung a bow and quiver across his broad shoulders, grabbed a rifle, and even grabbed a couple of throwing knives while he was at it. He walked over to a 25 yard range, and shot with the rifle. Dawn watched as the bullet hit home right at the center of the target.

He switched fluidly to the bow and arrow, the arrowhead burrowing itself into the inner ring of the target. Then he drew a knife, and shot that with equal accuracy, hitting up high, but still in the inner ring.

Dawn clapped happily. "That was interesting. Now it's my turn!"

"Your turn?" Paul stared at her skeptically, looking her up and down. In her blouse, flowery shirt, designer jeans, and two-inch heels she looked like she couldn't even lift the gun. "Seriously?"

"Awe c'mon," Dawn pouted, "Why does everyone think I'm weak? Come on, give me the damn gun."

Paul stared at her again. "You sure?"

"Yes," Dawn sighed impatiently, "Misty's in our band, you think we can't lift a gun? Much less...me?"

"You seem like the least athletic in your group," Paul stated.

Dawn rolled her eyes and made a 'gimme' gesture, "C'mon, just give it to me!"

Paul reluctantly handed over the gun, and Dawn quickly ran towards a 40 yard range, loading and shooting. Paul barely had time to register that the bullet had sank into the bulls-eye, before Dawn was shooting again, this time at a dummy, the fake blood squirting out of it's chest. She shot yet again, diagonally at another target, this time even further away. It hit the inner ring, and finally, Dawn paused and shot a smirk towards Paul.

"How's that for 'least athletic?'" Dawn smiled. "If I'm the least...who knows what the others can do, right?"

Paul could feel his mouth hanging open and quickly snapped it shut. He had never seen anybody shoot with such precision, let alone a girl. He wasn't sexist or anything, because his mother was one of the sharpest shooters he had ever met, but even she couldn't sink a bulls-eye from 40 yards.

"Wow."

Dawn smiled again. "But hey, I'm pretty sucky at the bow. Knives are May's thing, Misty's is close combat, Leaf likes arrows, but she much prefers the technology stuff, and Marina? She's a little bit of everything. But don't ask her to shoot anything, she'll probably end up killing someone on your side."

"Now that I'm over what I just saw, let's go over to the close combat station, and let's see if you can best me there, yeah?" Paul said quickly, trying to cover up his blatant shock.

"Sure." Dawn smiled at him, making Paul feel even more awkward.

When they got their, Paul motioned for Dawn to step into the ring, and Dawn looked down at what she was wearing. "Shouldn't I change?"

"I don't care, it's up to you," Paul said.

"I'll just change my pants and shoes," Dawn decided.

Eventually they found a girl's pants and sneakers the size that Dawn needed, but it took a while...because Dawn was tiny...and thin.

When they got started, Paul's admiration had faded a bit. Physical combat? That was his strong point.

"Weapons or not?" Paul prompted, motioning to the armory.

Dawn thought for a moment before nodding. "Sure! Why not? I haven't touched a blade in a while. May be a bit rusty."

"Rusty?" Paul asked incredulously, groaning a little. "Great."

Dawn smiled cheekily as she skipped over to the weaponry. "Hi! My name is Dawn, do you have daggers? Make 'em dull? I don't want to hurt him." Dawn jerked her thumb in Paul's general direction.

The lady manning the weaponry gave her a weird look, giggling lightly at her statement. "Uh...yeah. I'm Bella. Yeah we do, just a minute. You do know how good Paul is at close combat?"

Dawn shook her head 'no', but still smiled brightly. "That's okay! I'll still try. And usually when I try, I succeed."

Bella observed her before shrugging and nodding. She leaned back and looked down an aisle of weapons and took a deep breath before yelling. "Hey Chuck! Can we get some dulled daggers? Two'll do!"

"Coming up!" A loud, deep voice shouted back humorously.

"I'll take my usual," Paul said quietly, and Bella nodded.

"Charlie! Paul's sword? Yeah?!"

"I'm coming!"

Bella brushed a blond curl behind her and flashed the pair a smile. "Are you new Dawn? You learning from Paul? Or just sparring?"

"I'm new!" Dawn said, "And no, we're just sparring?"

She looked to Paul for confirmation.

Paul nodded stoically, already retreating inside. Who was this strange girl that made him talk? Made him...feel? No feelings have gotten him through quite a bit in his life. Now she was coming in here, making him feel shock, arrogance, shame, and a whole lot that Paul couldn't identify.

A bronze-haired man walked out of the aisles and kissed Bella on the cheek. "Hi Bells."

"Charlie, I literally just saw you a couple seconds ago," Bella said flatly, but her voice held a strange sense of warmth. She leaned over and pecked Charlie in the mouth, but when she tried to leave, Charlie pulled her back in a gave her a proper kiss.

Dawn gestured towards them with a confused expression towards Paul. Paul sighed.

"Ignore them, they're always this lovey dovey." Paul leaned over the counter and grabbed their weapons and saluted as thanks, but niether of them were paying any attention.

"Hey!" Bella protested, breaking away from Charlie.

"It's true," Paul called teasingly as he walked back out towards the close combat area.

Dawn stared at his back, thinking about everything that has passed.

"I hope you come back you asshole! So I can pound you into the ground!" Bella called after Paul.

"Sure you will honey, we all know he's like your little brother," Charlie assured her.

Bella glared at her husband. "Hey! Do NOT patronize me!"

Dawn gave them another inquisitive look before running after the strange Paul. She had barely met him for a day, and she had already found out how his moods changed and swayed. It all depended on who he was with. With strangers, he was cold and stoic, yet with her he had actually been pretty fun. And with the pair at the weaponry just now, he'd been almost...playful.

Dawn shrugged and followed him.

Paul stepped onto the mat and tossed Dawn her two daggers. Dawn grinned and twirled them eagerly, almost moaning at the familiar feeling of blades along her skin.

Paul looked at her strangely but simply struck first.

Dawn's right dagger immediately stopped twirling and clanged loudly against Paul's sword. She smirked and darted forwards to jab at his chest. Paul immediately backed away and let his sword fall as he danced back.

They parried and took shots at each other for a few minutes. The loud clangs were attracting a crowd, as there usually wasn't such a heated fight when Paul was on the mat. Dawn yelled out in frustration as she lunged out with a dagger to block Paul's powerful strike. Her muscles trembled as she fought against the impeding blade. She improvised quickly and made to cut towards Paul's hands. Paul immediately backed off on instinct, but cussed loudly when he realized his mistake.

He feinted left before sweeping his sword from underneath Dawn, upwards, but Dawn quickly jumped out of the way, parrying the sword away with one dagger as she darted forward to attack Paul again. Paul had no choice but to block it with a forearm, which meant that he didn't have usage of that arm. He cursed vividly again.

Dawn was able to catch Paul's sword in a sharp cross at the base of his sword. Dawn followed up and used one of her daggers to move the sword out of the way as she poked Paul in the chest with her other dagger. Paul put force down onto his sword and her dagger broke away from her hand.

"Hey isn't that cheating?" Dawn protested as she backed away clutching her last dagger in her hand.

"Yeah, technically," Paul admitted after a second of glowering. "You 'killed' me, so technically we would reset."

"But I was thinking we could do no weapons now? Yeah?" Paul asked.

"Sure," Dawn shrugged, nodding happily. "I'm here to learn."

"Learn my ass," Paul mumbled under his breath, "She could beat half of the people in here."

"What was that?" Dawn asked triumphantly. "A few hours ago, you said I was weak! And that I probably couldn't lift a gun. Change your opinion yet? That's right, announce it to the entire audience please."

Paul groaned. Why did she have to work the limelight so much?

"Fine," he grumbled, "I'm sorry for mistaking you as weak. Now can I beat you?"

Dawn narrowed her eyes at him at glared. "Come at me bro."

Paul gave another half-smile before moving into a defensive position. Dawn quickly moved forwards, ducking and rolling before trying to sweep Paul off his feet. Paul stood firm though, and Dawn glared harder as she jabbed towards Paul's torso. Paul intercepted with a bulky arm, Dawn sighing as she moved back.

She flipped herself upright as she and Paul circled. Paul moved next, his body's coiled tension suddenly being released all at once, striking hard and fast towards Dawn. Dawn bent her lithe body back and forwards, ducking low to avoid the flurry of blows Paul was determined to land on her.

When finally Paul started slowing down, Dawn started to relax, but Paul grabbed her arm and swung her around, slamming her onto the ground.

"Augh!" Dawn choked out, Paul keeping her down with both his arms.

Dawn struggled to bring in air for a few seconds, before she was able to kick Paul off with her feet.

The crowd 'oo'ed and 'ah'ed as the pair continued fighting, Dawn's breathing just slightly heavy.

Dawn kicked upwards and Paul held onto her leg, refusing to let go before Dawn used his arm as a step, launching herself over Paul and jabbing straight into his neck. Paul flung his head back, to protect his neck, and immediately released Dawn's leg.

Dawn managed to get in a couple of blows, knocking Paul to the floor. The crowd was shocked. Paul had never been knocked onto the floor before, and Dawn was a lightweight!

Dawn backed away tentatively, mumbling with concern. "Are you okay?"

Suddenly Paul lurched upwards and grabbed her arms, flipping her onto the ground next to him. "If I'm going down, you're coming down with me!"

Dawn groaned in pain, her head lolling as she stared at the ceiling way up there. "Oww."

"Oww is right," Paul muttered in agreement, slowly sitting up and rubbing his head.

Dawn got up too and smiled weakly at the roaring crowd.

"That was a good fight," Paul said, patting Dawn on the back before turning to address the crowd gathered. "Alright! You've seen the fight! Now scram! Get outta here."

"I think that's the most words I've heard you speak to a large crowd or strangers ever since I met you," Dawn mused.

Paul glared coldly at her. He was letting her get to close. Way to close. Time to shut it down. "How do you think I handle the crowds at our gigs? Hmm? Whatever. You've seen enough. Time to go."

Dawn opened her mouth to protest, but Paul held up a hand for silence and walked off of the mat, back towards the stairs that would lead them to the official Dolphins Recording Studio.

Dawn felt her heart sink as she breathed through her nose, coughing a couple time to rid herself of the itchiness in her throat. There was nothing she could do. At least she tried.

* * *

 **AN: I'm so excited for getting...another year of school over with! YES! I mean...I love my friends and all...but summer here I come! ;) But we still have...one month and two weeks. *sigh***

 **I'll miss Jeffrey, Anthony, Jessica and Evy(my surrogate little sisters), Melanie, Lorelei, Antonio, Kenney, Maggie, Joylyn, Evanka, Kristen(but she does live across the street)...I should probably stop there. Etc. How about that? XD At least I'll still have my swimming friends. YAY! I am so immature...;D**

 **I guess this is dedicated to them...because this is not just about love and all that...it's about family and friendship and the bonds between people.**

 **P.S. Bella and Charlie are real people along with Truman(from Eevee Sisters), and Charlie and Truman are some of my best friends(I'm a tomboy, so what?). Bella is my friend as well...and she's awesome. XD I hope you can tell who I ship her with? ;P She and Truman dated a while...but I bet you guys don't care, right?**

 **I promise that next chapter, we'll bring back all the other ships! But it is Ikari...XD**

 **Please review! They make me more eager to write! Especially since finals are coming up! Pretty please?**

 **-Ange**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN: _PLZ READ._ Sorry I'm terribly late. But I've soo busy. I'm just really sorry. One of my best friends has attempted suicide twice, and recently has been frequently mentioning killing herself. She wrote a white flag/goodbye note on Instagram, and I freaked out. I was really scared that she was going to kill herself. Me and the rest of our friends were really worried. I'm sorry that I haven't had time to write, but mostly that's what has been going on and I was panicking and stuff. I'm sorry. I'm so scared. I've been crying so much...I don't actually think I have any tears left. Threw up multiple times, can't find my appetite, can't sleep. I'm so sorry guys, I just couldn't really write much. I think it's a crappy chapter and you guys don't deserve that, but I just really needed to post because you guys have been waiting too long. I'm sorry. ****I've been really busy today, but I really really really needed to get this chapter out becuz I felt really bad. So it's sort of short? But I really tried guys! That's gotta count?**

 **The next chapter may be a little late too. But don't worry! I'm not abandoning this fic any time soon.**

 **Also, I've been working on a collab with MadDogLucario96 and also a new one-shot!**

 **I think he's posting the collab soon. Go check it out! Please? First collab...I dunno if I failed.**

 **And the one-shot is more about the future. All of my favorite ships in the future. ;) I'll get that out soon.**

* * *

"I hate you."

"I hate you too sweetheart."

Leaf groaned as she slammed her head down and glared. "I really hate you."

"I hate you too sweetheart."

"Can we go somewhere else?" Leaf asked, getting up and leaving some bills on the table.

"Sure, but take that money back. I'm paying," Gary said roughly, motioning towards the door.

"No," Leaf said stubbornly. "I'm a strong woman and it's not like I can't feed myself. I'm paying for my own bill at least."

"Sweetie," Gary said with an exasperated tone. "I'm not saying you're weak or anything, in fact, so far, you seem pretty strong and powerful yourself. Just let me be the gentleman, okay? Because I want to."

Leaf still glared at him intensely.

"No, this isn't arguable. You can dominate the house when we get married, but at least let me pay the bills," Gary pleaded softly, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. "I mean at the very least let me do this. Please?"

Leaf grumbled a bit under her breath before sighing and nodding. When Gary smiled brightly like a child with early Christmas presents, she shook her head but found herself smiling at Gary childishness.

"Let's go, to the car?" Leaf asked as Gary held the door open for her, still humming a happy tune.

"Yes, I'd take you to coffee, but we just had breakfast. Let's go to the movies. I heard there was a couple good ones playing right now." Gary bounced onto his seat with vigor.

"I don't wanna," Leaf whined as she dragged her feet, but opened the car door and slipped inside. "I thought you guys only had one car?"

"Nah, we all have our own, but we rarely use them. Only a couple of us actually drove our own cars here." Gary pulled out and started onto the street.

"Great," Leaf said sarcastically. "I loove spending alone time with you. We're going to get along great."

Gary smirked again, "You know it!"

"Alright, but honestly what do you want to watch?" Gary prompted, turning the wheel carelessly.

"I don't care." Leaf rolled down the window and let her long brown braid fly out of the window. "As long as I get Milk Duds."

"That your favorite candy or something?" Gary asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Leaf demanded brusquely. "You aren't exactly the type of person to care like that."

Gary glared at her. "Hey, don't judge. Just because you think I'm a player doesn't mean I don't care about the inner feelings too. I have to marry you Goddammit! I have to live with you! I have to consummate our marriage with you! Don't you understand? It's not like that."

"Yeah, but the pictures don't lie," Leaf said with a heated roll of her eyes. "Look!"

Leaf shoved her phone under Gary's face.

"I can't look! I'm driving!" Gary snapped, but his brown eyes flitted down to the electronic face anyways.

The picture was taken last night, and it showed Gary slightly tipsy at a bar with at least four poorly dressed girls around him, looking at him seductively. Gary was kissing one of them, and another one of them had latched onto his broad shoulders. The other two was slung across his seated body, smiling at the camera.

"This was taken last night, and this?" Leaf thumbed across the screen, showing him the other pictures. "There is practically a hundred pictures for every single one of your escapades. Don't you understand? Your a player, a man-whore, a slut, and literally, you don't care about the female race. So why should I have to marry an ass like that?"

"Okay, well, your going to have to," Gary said with little remorse in his voice. "I'm not allowed by the boys to get inebriated, so girls is the other option. What do you want me to say, sorry?"

Leaf reached over and slapped him hard across the cheek. "You know what? I think that these timers got it all wrong. How could I marry a sick bastard like you, much less fall in love with you? And yes, you should say sorry. A person takes offense, that when they hear that they have to settle down and marry somebody, they go out the last night they're not completely chained down and drink and do the nasty?"

Leaf's face was flushed as she shook her head. "That's just mean. Cruel and mean."

"I'm sorry." Gary stared sullenly ahead. "I never mean to hurt anyone ever. I just had that reputation...and it got into habit...you know I never actually sleep with any of those girls, right?"

Leaf sighed and shook her head again, staring at the ceiling of the car. "I don't know if I believe anything that comes out of your mouth Gary Oak. Not a single word."

* * *

"Am I supposed to hold your hand?" Jimmy asked, a little flustered, "I mean, I don't want to be imposing, but is it too early, or..."

"Nah," Marina smiled softly, "It's fine if you want to. Thank you for the drink."

"You two are entirely too shy around each other," Misty said with a crooked smile. "I mean, if we're going to the mall for our date, at least loosen up. Me and Ash are going to wander. Bye!"

She took Ash's hands as she took off, the pair racing each other to the end of the hallway, and Marina watched as they skidded out of sight.

"So where do you want to go?" Jimmy asked politely, spinning around to take in the supermall. People buzzed around them, and the sunlight filtered through the ceiling and splashed onto the floor in a rainbow.

"I don't know," Marina said, "But I do know that I want a iced coffee. Can we stop by that Starbucks?"

Jimmy perked up a little. "Coffee? Of course. I would've taken you as a chai tea type of person, but iced coffee seems to fit you too."

Marina flicked him in the cheek. "Are you already judging sweetie?"

Jimmy flushed at Marina's use of 'sweetie'.

"Yeah, kind of," he admitted. "Doesn't everyone judge other people when they first see them?"

"No not really," Marina countered, as they pulled open the door to the small coffee shop. "I mean I look at them and observe but I don't actually make real judgments until I get to know them better."

"Well that's a good thing, I guess. I guess you have to get used to that though, it's a bad habit of mine," Jimmy said sheepishly.

"Wonderful, of course my soulmate likes judging," Marina said dryly.

Jimmy ordered while Marina waited patiently. As she watched her to-be husband order, she felt a mischievous grin over take her face. She snatched his cap just as he finished paying with his receipt in hand.

"Hey!" Jimmy flushed as he reached for the cap. "Give it back!"

"No!" Marina giggled as she darted around the tables, finally settling at the far side of the coffee shop.

"Aww, they're so cute," the barista cooed as Jimmy continued to chase Marina.

"What?" Both of them froze. Marina handed Jimmy back his cap and the pair got their drinks and got out of there.

"We are not cute," Jimmy huffed.

"Aww, yes you are," Marina laughed, poking his cheek.

Jimmy gave her a skeptical look. "She said, 'they're so cute'. So I don't think that she meant just me, but whatever."

"Already sacrificing for love?" Marina teased as she wandered further along the glassy displays.

"Love? I'm not sure I'd use that word yet," Jimmy said meekly.

Marina tilted her head gracefully as she pulled Jimmy into an art store. "Love, it's used differently. I mean, I love all of the girls. Does that make me lesbian? I love my guy friends...does that make me a whore?"

"Of course not!" Jimmy said, quite affronted. "I just...it's so tightly used. I didn't want to offend you."

"Offend me? I'm usually quite carefree Jimmy, not much offends me," Marina laughed lightly, her eyes twinkling mischievously again.

"Yeah, I've figured that out," Jimmy admitted. "I mean, you love art, your very loose and you don't care much about opinions and rules. I like you."

"I'd be concerned if you didn't," Marina said with another bright laugh. "I mean, we are supposed to be soulmates."

"I know," Jimmy grinned crookedly. "I can tell why our timer chose each other."

"Good, because things are about to get a little weird. Usually, this is where my old boyfriends would stop," Marina said seriously. Jimmy nodded nervously but allowed Marina to pull him through.

"Welcome," Marina started, with a bright smile on her face. "To the paint room."

All the blood drained away from Jimmy's face. "Oh no."

* * *

"Well should we just spy on them?" Misty whispered into Ash's ear.

"I dunno, they seem pretty cozy," Ash muttered back with a faint blush on his cheeks. "But I thought we were supposed to be on our own date?"

Misty rolled her eyes. "Come on Ash, I'm going to be stuck with you for the rest of my life, I might as well have my best friend be my husband. And to do that, you have to become my best friend first. But okay, if you want to leave them alone, what do you want to do?"

Misty started walking out, back towards the supermall entrance. Ash looked up at second floor, where there was a large spa store. "You want to go swimming?"

"Swimming?" Misty stopped short. "Wait, did you just say, swimming?!"

"Uh yeah?" Ash scratched his head as he walked forwards to catch up to the carrot-hair colored girl.

"Yes! Let's go! The beach or our swimming pool?" Misty asked eagerly, dancing outside. She was so excited she jumped straight onto the road.

Time slowed down as the large truck came barreling towards them. Someone's horn blared loudly, but Ash couldn't even hear it. The lights flashed in the bright sunlight, and Ash had to squint to see exactly what was going on. Misty seemed to realize that a large car was coming at her just a split second too late to move out of the way.

Ash lunged forwards and pulled Misty back.

Misty flew backwards, crashing into Ash's solid chest, but her foot still skimmed the front of the truck, twisting fast.

The loud cracking sound was so loud, the driver pulled over and came over to make sure everything was alright.

"Are you okay?"

Misty squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that this was all a dream. When she opened her cerulean eyes, all she could focus on was the very very worried expression on Ash's face. "You okay Mist?"

"Ughah?"

"Yeah, I think you broke your foot. But it's your left foot! The non-drummer one?"

"What?"

"Come on, let's get you to a hospital."

Ash picked her up effortlessly, and slung her across his shoulders. "Alright, come on Mist. You're going to be fine."

Misty slowly drifted off as the worried voice of the driver and Ash's surprisingly steady footsteps lulled her to sleep.

Her foot throbbed, but it was ok.

Ash was here, and he wasn't about to let Misty just get hurt and not get medical attention. No, she would be going to the best hospital in town.

Faintly, Misty could hear Ash and the driver talk as Ash buckled her into the car.

"Yeah...no problem...home...yes...hospital...no...yes."

When Ash finally got into the car, Misty was barely awake. "Oww? Ow, ow ow?"

"Yeah Mist, I'll text all of the others, you just sleep. In no time you'll be fine, okay?"

"Ow...okay," Misty muttered, her eyes shutting, along with her brain and all of her thoughts. "Okay..."

* * *

"What on earth are we doing here?" May laughed, spinning around in delight. "I love this place!"

"Of course you do," Drew said dryly. "It's the friggin' beach."

"Well, I like the beautiful white sand and all of the teensy little crabs and all of the amazing animals. The cool, soft water, all of it!" May said perkily.

"Yeah, great," Drew muttered, "I'm so glad that this is a private beech. Good lord."

"Yeah, me too!" May said happily, stripping off her jumper and skirt before jumping into the water. "Yes!"

"She's so weird," Drew muttered before jumping in with her.

May giggled as the fish swam up to her, and even a pod of dolphins visited.

"Are you some voodoo witch or something? I swear you attract animals!" Drew called as a sting ray brushed past him. "I'm pretty sure this part of the beach is blocked off too!"

May's bubbly laughed filled his ears as she paddled towards him. "You know Drew, animals are only as nice to you as you are to them. So that sting ray won't sting you if you don't bother it. But if you do, I'm sure you'll have a painful death!"

Drew glared at her. May smiled back.

"Whatever, we all know I would be the better person to deal with any situation." The sting ray brushed against his leg with the sting gently, and the beady black eyes glared at him. "Sorry sorry!"

"Oh master ray! Please forgive me! Come on Drew reply after me," May said cheerfully.

"Of course not!" Drew stared at the sting ray with a grumpy expression. "I'm not apologizing to the ray."

The ray glared at him and brushed against him a little harder.

"Okay, okay! I'll apologize to the ray!" Drew muttered, throwing his hands up with annoyance. I'm sorry great Lord Ray!"

May smiled in satisfaction as she abandoned the dolphins to lead the ray back towards her.

"I swear that girl has weird psychotic powers." Drew swam towards the shore, not ready for another expedition with May.

"I'm going to get out and sit on the beach! And watch you! Come up here when you're ready!" Drew called, brushing sopping wet green hair out of his face.

"Of course!" May shouted back, petting a dolphin eagerly. The dolphin clicked and Drew shivered in the sunlight at the noise.

When he got back to their stuff, he groaned.

Little sand crabs had taken over their spots.

"Damn, I might actually need her psychotic powers now." Drew turned back towards the water.

"MAY!"

* * *

Jimmy barely had any time to take in the splattered walls, the dried paintbrushes, the paintball guns before a wall of paint slammed into him.

Okay, not a wall of paint.

Marina giggled as she shot another paintball at him. "Catch me if you can!"

Then she darted off into the maze of paint splattered walls.

"You have your own paintballing room?" Jimmy spluttered. "Also, that hurt! What do you think you're doing, giving me bruises?"

"I don't care! I don't paintball with vests anymore!" Marina called back.

Jimmy felt a slow grin spread across his face as he grabbed a gun. She just gave away where she was. And Jimmy was about to go after her.

He was a predator on the prowl. And Marina was his prey.

"I'm coming!"

"Yeah so what?!"

As long as Jimmy could keep Marina talking for as long as possible, he could always detect where she was.

"When I catch you, you are so dead! Who cares if you're my soulmate!" Jimmy cried.

"You won't kill me!" Marina said confidently, her voice echoing off the walls.

"Yeah?" Jimmy said, trying to sound nonchalant as he moved as quietly as he could against the white walls.

"Of course!" Marina said sarcastically. She swung around the corner and shot him three time in the chest before darting away, her footsteps deathly quiet.

Jimmy races after her, and spun around the corner, but she was already gone.

"Dammit! Lost her again."

"I know! You tried to keep me talking, right? Well I'm much smarter than you!" Marina said gleefully.

Jimmy groaned. "How am supposed to live with you woman?"

* * *

 **AN: I hoped you guys liked all the other ships back...I hope. ;) I think Leaf and Gary's relationship will be veeerrry slow. So there you go all of you, 'its moving too fast' people!**

 **Pray for my friend? She means the world to me. She's with her sledding dogs though, :) but I'm still worried.**

 **-Ange**


	7. Chapter 6

**AN: I am so so so sorry for the late update! I have just been struggling with writer's block, for BOTH of my stories. Funny, right? I mean...I just couldn't find the words to get to where I wanted it to be. Also...I had camp for a week, no electronics, and tons of other stuff. Sorry! My apologies 1000%!**

 **Plus, I have a new interest in Fire Emblem, so I might be shooting out a story for that soon, so I think I'm going to have to pace myself. You guys might only get an update every two-four weeks, as school will start soon...and I feel like a horrible person, but I want to keep all these stories going! I still have interest in this, and great plans in store, I just can't always find it in me to take hours off of homework to type up chapters super fast. Homework and school, and swimming...they're first priority. I'm so sorry if that doesn't fit you...but this is my story, and if you really don't like slower updates, then go shove it.**

 **Seriously. Not to sound rude or anything, but I hate those people who give writers flames for being slow or something, honestly...you don't know their life. For all you know, they're in a hospital, because they're dying. You don't know anything about they're personal life, so why are you being impatient and rude? I mean no disrespect, and I know there are lots of lovely darlings out there who are aaamazing!**

 **But there are those few people...who just really piss me off. Of course, none of you have been impatient withe me. You guys are seriously, some of the greatest people ever for showing any interest at all in my stuff. So thank you. And thank you for being patient, and not being that person that gives me a looong PM about how I should hurry up. *kisses***

 **So...ignoring the long AN, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

"I officially hate you," Drew groaned lowly as he toweled off his hair, sinking into the plush chair with a half-smile.

"I know," May agreed with a tilt of her head as she flipped pancakes.

"I'm serious. You are so mean. You kicked me out of the shower after two minutes. Two minutes!" Drew grumbled. "I hate you so much."

May felt her lips creep up into a grin. "I know."

"I cannot believe you, Gary Oak! Take him away from me! Drew, keep your friend's mouth shut, will you?" Leaf mumbled, plopping down next to May in the kitchen.

"Should we get the blueberries and chocolate chips?" May asked matronly.

Leaf nodded tiredly in agreement, and the pair shared a soft smile before Leaf ambled off to get the ingredients.

"Shut up!" Marina giggled as she tumbled down the stairs after Jimmy, "I totally gave you more bruises! Definitely!"

"Whoa there!" Jimmy steadied Marina, who had a bubbly, happy, _dreamy_ expression on her face. "I'm sure you did, Mar."

"You know?" Marina said with a thoughtful expression. "You're the first boy I've taken there that hadn't ran away, or broke up with me later, after all of the things I put you guys through. I mean, you even volunteered to take me back! Multiple time!"

Marina pecked his cheek in excitement, but spun away from him.

Jimmy gave a wry smile. "Well, I wonder why."

"What do you mean?" Marina asked with an air of self-righteousness. "I am totally...amazing!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright say what you want."

Drew groaned again, and leaned back, his knees hooked tightly around the edge of his chair. The front legs of the chair left the ground and he almost toppled over, but Gary caught the back of the chair and pushed it back up mindlessly.

"Leaf! Leaf wait! Wait..." Gary called hesitantly, trailing after the fuming brunette like a lost puppy. Drew mumbled a low thanks, but shook his head at Gary's audacity.

Misty and Dawn trudged blearily down the stairs together, neither one looking at where they were going. "Ugh..."

"Why...did we stay up...watching...movies?" Misty yawned, rubbing her eyes with a deep sigh. She hobbled into the room, her crutches clicking.

"Yeah, why did we?" Dawn said roughly, rubbing at her eyes and blinking a few times.

Misty glared at her with barely concealed amusement. "Maybe because I have a shattered foot, and you came home complaining and-!"

Dawn looked panicked as she covered Misty's mouth as quick as possible, her eyes wide with fear. "NO!"

"No what?" Leaf asked, her arms full of food. She looked towards May with a desperate expression. _Help!_ She mouthed.

"Please darling!" Gary pleaded.

"Get the fuck off me! You bastard!" Leaf said hotly, throwing his large hand off her shoulder.

"Maybe you should leave Leaf alone...I dunno, that's sounds like a pretty good idea to me," Drew offered, stretching a little so that his shirt rode up. He stood up to check how May was doing with the pancakes. He reached for one when May wasn't looking but she whirled around to glare at him. "Drew Hayden! You put those pancakes down!"

Drew remained his cool, calm attitude, but he threw his hands up with a slightly redder face. "Okay, okay! Sorry."

May rolled her baby blues and shielded the rest of the pancakes and the batter away from prying hands with her body. "God people! Just let me finish making breakfast! You guys should be grateful! There are starving people out there!"

"Riight." Paul emerged from a side room, pants low-slung and hanging, while he battled against his shirt. "Dammit!"

"Yeah next time, I'm not sleeping on the couch with _you_. Not again! I've done it for three nights already! Somebody else needs to do it tonight" Ash grumbled. "Your such a bed-hog Paul. But at least I'll get to share a bed with Misty soon, right Mist?" He gave a goofy grin. Misty laughed through closed lips but entwined her fingers through Ash's anyways.

"I'm sure I'll be better to sleep with than Paul..." Misty agreed.

Gary opened his mouth to suggest something, but Paul's low growl cut him off. "Don't even _think_ about saying what you were gonna say." Gary shut his mouth.

"Oh come on guys, it's been a week since we did anything fun!" May pouted, bringing a large pile of normal pancakes to the table. "Syrup's in the cupboard, butter, OJ, milk, and whipped cream is in the fridge. Blueberry and chocolate coming up!"

"So, what are you guys planning to do today?" Solidad said dramatically, slamming the door shut with a nod.

"Ugh," Misty groaned, throwing her crutches onto the floor and slumping into a chair. "Nothing."

"Aww come on guys! You've been all holed up here since forever! The public is going nuts trying to find you guys!" Aralyn said encouragingly.

"Why do you think we haven't left this safe haven?" Drew said dryly.

"I mean, do you want us to talk to the press?" Jimmy agreed.

"Yes, I do," Brock said, walking into the room. "It's important."

"Just invite yourself into our house, won'tcha?" Dawn grumbled, reaching for a plate.

Marina started passing out forks, brushing her bangs back. "I mean seriously Ary, are you crazy? They practically killed us!" Paul sat down next to Ash, who had fallen asleep again, and poked him awake. Misty was sitting next to Ash, and on the other side of Misty was Dawn.

May's loaded plate sat at the head of the table, and on her left was Dawn, and to her right, was Marina. Next to Marina was Jimmy, and Gary sat between an irritated Leaf, and a cautious Jimmy. Drew sat at the far end with a wide smirk as he dumped sprinkles all over his food.

"There's no room for us?" Solidad pouted, tossing her long auburn hair behind her.

"No," Misty drawled, splaying her hands and propping up her foot and boot.

Solidad, Brock, and Aralyn all stood around awkwardly as they ate.

"I think we should play a show. Together. Soon." Ash offered.

Everyone stopped eating.

"Ash, are you sure?" Drew finally asked, his voice laced with confusion and wariness. "That show is going to be big. And it's going to sell out quickly. Are you absolutely certain? Because we're heading into media territory, not just fan territory, and you know what happens when these things get out of control, right?"

Ash snorted lightly. "Of course I do. You forget, I've been in the spotlight for a while now. I know my way around things."

"Right..." Gary agreed hesitantly. "This might not be a bad idea."

"Serious?" Solidad asked slowly, meeting everyone's eyes. She shared a meaningful look with Brock. Everyone nodded slowly. Even Paul, who with a nudge from Drew, slowly dipped his head in agreement, though his fingers tapped incessantly on the tabletop.

Suddenly, Ash's hand darted out to slap Paul's. "Stop it!"

Paul glared at him, and restrained himself from kicking Ash in the shins, in case he broke his drummer's foot.

But Misty slapped him on the head for him. "Don't be rude Ash. You do that too. So don't be a hypocrite."

"But it's soooo annoying!" Ash said with a pouty, dopey smile. Misty shook her head and laughed through closed lips.

"What helps you sleep at night Ashy boy."

"Hey! No one asked you Gary!"

"Yeah, that's right, this is between me and my fiance..."

"I can say what I want."

"Leaf, can you be nice and slap him?"

*SMACK*

"Oww! What was that for!? You know I was just teasing! Me and Ash are cousins! I would never hurt Ash on purpose! God woman!"

"Nice one Leaf."

"I know. Now Gary..."

*KICK*

"OWW!"

"Shut up. Stop being a baby. I thought you were a man?"

Ash snorted. "Are you kidding me? Gary is the biggest little baby you will ever meet. Melodramatic, crybaby, prone to pain...the works. Especially the waterworks."

"That I can second," Drew agreed, smirking.

"Yup, he's ruined like four shirts already, and I just went shopping two months ago!" Jimmy added cheerfully.

All of the girls burst out laughing.

"Gary...likes to cry?" Leaf asked with one eyebrow raised and a devious smile. "Why didn't anyone get it on camera?"

"I dunno," Ash said thoughtfully, scratching his head. "Because we keep forgetting?"

Paul grunted. "It's because your too busy comforting him Ash."

"Wait, what?" Misty asked with interest, turning to Paul again. "Ash is the one he goes to?"

"Nah," Drew muttered. "Though I'm his best friend, he goes to Jimmy first. Then Ash, then me. I'm not...really open about feelings."

"Neither am I," Paul shrugged, his air of coldness back.

"So this is what family gatherings are like?" Aralyn said cheerfully. "Remind me to bring a body camera next time so I can sell his to the paparazzi. Speaking of paparazzi, there's some outside the far gate...you know the one before the mile long driveway?"

"It's not that long Arie,"May sighed. "Don't be a Gary now. Melodramatic..."

"Hey!" Gary protested, his face bright pink.

Everyone laughed again, even Leaf was sporting a wan smile, if not a smug one.

* * *

"I cannot believe we're doing this," Misty groaned. "I can't even play, because I'm not supposed to put stress on my foot! Grr! Now they want me to sing? They know I'm not as good as them."

"It's okay Mist," Ash said soothingly, rubbing her back slowly. "You do have a beautiful voice. All five of you do."

"Are you sure?" Misty wasn't sure why she was acting like a petulant child, in need of comfort. She just felt wronged and angry. She loved playing the drums, it's what she practically breathed for. But no. She wasn't allowed to. Instead, she had to sing, but then again, everyone was singing.

"It's just," Misty started feeling really really small. "I don't know. I'm scared that I'll embarrass myself."

 _If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea,_  
 _I'll sail the world to find you_

Ash smiled at her, his eyes wide with kindness and gentleness.

 _If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see,_  
 _I'll be the light to guide you_

Ash's voice was a deep tenor, and yet somehow soothing. Like a father to his child. Strange and different, yet the two had the most unbreakable bond. Misty smiled softly, leaning back into Ash's arms. She let the normal back-stage bustle fade away, and just enjoyed the feeling of Ash's strong, warm presence.

 _Find out what we're made of_  
 _When we are called to help our friends in need_

Slowly, Misty joined in. She had a rich, full voice, not super high or super low, but her voice filled the room, and it rang throughout the room. She felt Ash's hand rub faster circles on her back.

 _You can count on me like one two three_  
 _I'll be there_

May, Dawn and Leaf stared at each other when they heard the drifting voices of the pair. They walked together and sat down on the stray speakers and chairs on the stage, behind the curtains. They all joined in, weaving harmonies and variations of the melody.

 _And I know when I need it I can count on you like four three two_  
 _You'll be there_  
 _'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah_

Paul joined in, strumming his guitar. His baritone voice was just as rich as Misty's while some of the others had light, airy voices. Drew sat down next to Ash and Misty and started singing the melody sheepishly as well. He slowly reached for May's hand, and because with everyone gathering on the stage, it was beginning to feel...almost normal.

 _Whoa, whoa_  
 _Oh, oh_  
 _Yeah, yeah_

The girls all started clapping, and Gary and Jimmy joined in, more voices blending together in a sad, honest, but beautiful song. They brought in their own guitars as Marina started singing shyly along with everyone else.

 _If you tossin' and you're turnin' and you just can't fall asleep_  
 _I'll sing a song_  
 _Beside you_  
 _And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me_  
 _Everyday I will_  
 _Remind you_

The crowd couldn't see them, but they could hear them, and they were heartbreakingly beautiful, and so they erupted, demanding to see them.

 _Ooh_  
 _Find out what we're made of_  
 _When we are called to help our friends in need_

Aralyn stormed by the group, demanding to see Solidad. "Open the curtains! This is good. We didn't have much of a plan before. At least, they were unsure about it. Now that they've started, it's fine, just leave them. They all have mics already anyways. Just let the crowd see them! Look, the lights are dimmed, they won't even know, and you know our girls, they can improvise. I'm sure your boys can as well, right Brock?"

Brock sighed and glared a little half-heartedly at the eager woman. "I suppose. They know hundreds of songs. Shall we just do acoustic then?"

 _You can count on me like one two three_  
 _I'll be there_  
 _And I know when I need it I can count on you like four three two_  
 _You'll be there_  
 _'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah_

"Yes," Solidad breathed. "They sound...magnificent. You can practically hear the emotions in the song. And they've barely met, yet the dynamic of the group has changed already. No longer are they strangers...they no longer have to offend people. Now, they've actually become friends. Like the few times we've dropped by during breakfast? They're comfortable. They sit anywhere they want, and it's no longer hostility, it's bantering. They've grown accustomed to each other. They know each other. After two weeks of living each other, they've gotten used to it. Open the curtains. The world will be able to see it anyways."

 _Oh, oh_  
 _Yeah, yeah_

 _You'll always have my shoulder when you cry_  
 _I'll never let go_  
 _Never say goodbye_  
 _You know you can_

The ten teenagers played and sang and clapped, and with the dimmed lighting, like predicted, none of them reacted. They barely noticed how the roaring crowd was louder, they simply continued singing, the love and care they had for each other was obvious.

 _Count on me like one two three_  
 _I'll be there_  
 _And I know when I need it I can count on you like four three two_  
 _And you'll be there_  
 _'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah_

The boys stopped playing, and the girls stopped clapping, the eerie quietness taking them over before Ash started singing the last bit, and soon, they had joined in too.

 _Oh, oh_  
 _You can count on me 'cause I can count on you_

As the song finished they could all feel the sudden change. They've all come to accept each other for who they were, no longer judging. No longer suspicious and full of hatred. They had become, friends. Even family of sorts. A dysfunctional, crazy, dynamic family maybe, but they all filled roles that needed to be filled, and everybody was okay with that.

"Alright guys! Thank you for listening. I have suspicions that our managers may be behind the early start, but hey, you guys loved it right?" Paul smiled. The crowd screamed their approval.

"That was so much fun, right?" Dawn giggled, nudging May. May nodded. "Thank you all for listening and being such go-with-the-flow with all this change we're throwing at you all of a sudden, we really appreciate it! This concert itself was a surprise, it's just..." May stopped to take a deep breath. The earpiece in her ear was talking.

"Alright guys, here's how it's going to go, you guys can pick random songs, but it has to be songs everyone knows the lyrics to, and people know how to play. We're going acoustic. You have an hour, blow them away." Solidad paused. "Seriously, this is your show."

The group shared surprised looks. Perhaps this was to make up for opening the curtains before they were all ready?

"So guys, the next song we're going to play is..." Marina paused as she reached for her violin, "Secrets by them boys, Dark Truth. I hope you guys enjoy."

Leaf stood up to sit behind the piano, while Jimmy handed off his guitar to Drew, he grabbed a cello, and Marina's eyes widened imperceptibly. Ash patted Misty on the shoulder before he got up to go to the drums, because even though it was acoustic, there was still soft drums. But nothing was electrically amplified, but there were microphones in use.

Jimmy smirked, but nodded at Marina. The pair began together, before the guitar started.

 _I need another story_  
 _Something to get off my chest_

Paul started, but May and Dawn joined in almost just as quickly.

 _My life gets kinda boring_  
 _Need something that I can confess_  
 _Til' all my sleeves are stained red_

May trilled the note, while Leaf, Drew, and Ash all joined in. They spread out across the entire scale, filling up the entire canvas with beautiful colors, making the audience's ears ring with how good it sounded.

 _From all the truth that I've said_  
 _Come by it honestly I swear_

Misty didn't know what she was doing when she started, mimicking making a pinky swear with Dawn, then winking at the crowd. She felt a broad smile as she danced her way over to Ash, and when she dropped a kiss onto his forehead, he smiled warmly while the crowd cheered.

 _Thought you saw me wink, no_  
 _I've been on the brink, so_

 _Tell me what you want to hear_  
 _Something that will light those ears_

May, Paul, Drew, and Leaf sang a four note chord together, stressing the word ears in a beautiful harmony.

 _Sick of all the insincere_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

May was getting into it, her face very sincere and she motioned giving away all her secrets. She walked over to Leaf who was still on the piano, and pretended to whisper into Leaf's ear.

 _This time, don't need another perfect lie_  
 _Don't care if critics ever jump in line_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

 _My God, amazing how we got this far_  
 _It's like we're chasing all those stars_  
 _Who's driving shiny big black cars_

The boys all nodded along to the beat, stomping their feet as they all strummed perfectly in sync with each other.

 _And everyday I see the news_  
 _All the problems that we could solve_  
 _And when a situation rises_

 _Just write it into an album_  
 _Send it straight to gold_  
 _I don't really like my flow, no, so_

"You sing!" May offered loudly, and the audience started singing. May shared a sideways look with Paul, who nodded slowly and was clapping his guitar along with Ash's beat. May paused to finally take a good look at the crowd. Though the light was blinding, she realized just how big this room was. It must have been able to hold at least 15,000 people. And the place was absolutely packed. In fact people were spilling in from the lobby, which led directly outside.

 _Tell me what you want to hear_  
 _Something that are like those years_  
 _Sick of all the insincere_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_  
 _This time, don't need another perfect lie_  
 _Don't care if critics never jump in line_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

"Good," Paul nodded, as he and the rest of them started again.

 _Oh, got no reason, got no shame_  
 _Got no family I can't blame  
_ _Just don't let me disappear  
_ _I'mma tell you everything_

 _So tell me what you want to hear_  
 _Something that'll light those ears_

A quick look, and Drew took this part.

 _Sick of all the insincere_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

Leaf sang this part, softly and tenderly.

 _This time, don't need another perfect lie_  
 _Don't care if critics never jump in line_

Gary filled in, his voice carrying across the room, silencing and fidgeting. The furious anger, the despair could be heard in his voice, as if he truly couldn't tell another lie, as if he truly didn't care if people judged him anymore. He sounded like he had reached his breaking point.

The pure brokenness is what prompted Leaf to reluctantly sit down, and lean into his side. Gary was singing so hard and loud, that his pants were heard even after his part.

 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

Dawn finished, continuing Gary's building crescendo, her arms coming around to flail about.

 _So tell me what you want to hear_  
 _Something that delight those ears_

Paul nodded his head as he let the music fill him, and started singing his part.

 _Sick of all the insincere_  
 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_

Misty sang this part, finishing it up solidly.

 _This time, don't need another perfect lie_  
 _Don't care if critics ever jump in line_

May linked hands with Dawn, as the two took center stage singing to each other.

 _I'm gonna give all my secrets away_  
 _All my secrets away, all my secrets away_

All of them joined in during the last few sentences.

Their voices molded into something beautiful and heartbreaking. It ended with a breathless, airy finish.

"Right, yeah, so next song we're singing is Try, by the girls, Words Unspoken. I hope you enjoy it. It truly shows everyone, that sometimes, it's okay to be you. Just you as you are. No make-up, no hiding, no facade. Just be yourself, and sometimes, that's worth more." Paul seemed a little shaken after the speech, and Drew rested a hand on his knee, eyes curious.

Paul nodded silently for a moment, tapping his foot.

May counted silently.

1, 2, 3

The boys started strumming their guitars while Ash started in on the drums, the low, gentle beat encompassed the song.

 _Put your make up on_  
 _Get your nails done_  
 _Curl your hair_  
 _Run the extra mile_  
 _Keep it slim_  
 _So they like you. Do they like you?_

May was still in the middle of the stage with Dawn, and both of the girls motioned the same thing. They pointed at each other and made a questioning pose.

 _Get your sexy on_  
 _Don't be shy, girl_  
 _Take it off_  
 _This is what you want, to belong_  
 _So they like you. Do you like you?_

The seriousness and the sadness of the song made May's shoulders sag as she leaned against her best friend. Misty left Ash's side to join the three girls.

 _You don't have to try_ so _hard_  
 _You don't have to give it all away_  
 _You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up_  
 _You don't have to change a single thing_

 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try_  
 _Yoooou don't have to try_

 _Ooooo, oooooo, oooooo..._

 _Get your shopping on,_  
 _At the mall,_  
 _Max your credit cards_  
 _You don't have to choose,_  
 _Buy it all_  
 _So they like you._

The boys all looked to each other in sharp looks. _Do they like you?_

 _Wait a second,_  
 _Why should you care, what they think of you_  
 _When you're all alone, by yourself_  
 _Do you like you? Do you like you?_

Dawn cocked her head, making a sassy gesture, but then looked small and tired as she harmonized with the other two girls, the guys taking the lower parts.

 _You don't have to try so hard_  
 _You don't have to give it all away_  
 _You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up_  
 _You don't have to change a single thing_

 _You don't have to try so hard_  
 _You don't have to bend until you break_  
 _You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up_  
 _You don't have to change a single thing_

As they repeated the chorus, they built up the emotion, passion, volume, and expression.

 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try_

 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try_  
 _Yoooou don't have to try_

 _Oooooo, oooooo_  
 _Oooooo, oooooo_

 _You don't have to try so hard_  
 _You don't have to give it all away_  
 _You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up_  
 _You don't have to change a single thing_

May took the lead, her voice turning into a comforting, soft tone. She trailed up and down the scales, straying from the original. Dawn trailed down as Misty sang deeply in the original tune, giving it a bit of kick and flair.

 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i_  
 _You don't have to try_  
 _You don't have to try_

 _Take your make up off_  
 _Let your hair down_  
 _Take a breath_  
 _Look into the mirror, at yourself_  
 _Don't you like you?_  
 _Cause I like you_

"Thank you all from coming and I hope you all enjoyed the show! This is the half-time break, and we'll be back after we have some water!" Leaf announced brightly. "You can use the bathrooms, and get a bite to eat if you want! Thank you!"

The group shared a relieved sigh. It went relatively well.

Gary walked...almost shyly up to Leaf.

He hesitated, as if unsure. "I'm sorry."

Leaf tilted her head to stare at him. "For what?"

"For being an ass, and having no self-control. I know I'm bad, but I'd like to spend the rest of our time making it up to you...because when your upset with me, I actually feel miserable." Gary looked at his shoes, hands in his pockets, and back slouched.

Leaf took him in, the messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and the defeated body posture. "Okay."

* * *

 **AN: Ooo! Is this just a show? Or something more? So my friend Queenspeller mentioned that this is more dramatic than angst...and guys...don't worry. We're getting there. Trust me. Just you wait!**

 **The songs I used was**

 **Bruno Mars, Count on Me**

 **Colbie Calliat, Try**

 **OneRepublic, Secrets, acoustic AOL sessions**

 **All favorites.**

 **-Ange**


	8. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry about the late update guys! Like...really late. But I finished The Eevee Sisters! ;) Which I'm veeery happy about!**

 **Love you all! You are all amazing. I just felt the need to say that. Thanks to all that reviewed, followed, and favorited! ;)**

 **Also, because you should all know that I'm a swimmer...I mean it's plastered everywhere...my profile, stories, etc...**

 **USA OLYMPIC SWIM TEAM! WE TOTALLY ROCKED RIO!**

 **XD If you haven't seen this hilarious video...please do.**

 _ **2016 USA Olympic Swim Team Carpool Karaoke**_

 **I promise it'll be worth it. ;)**

* * *

"That was exhausting..." Dawn yawned.

"Yeah, it really was," May nodded.

Dawn, Misty, Ash, Gary, and May were all in one car, and the other had Leaf, Marina, Jimmy, Drew, and Paul.

"Remind me, never to do that again," Misty groaned, rubbing her throat as she leaned into May. Ash was glaring at the brunette with barely veiled jealousy, and May's mouth quirked into an amused smile.

As Misty fell asleep on the car, May giggled lightly and slapped the raven-haired boy on the head. "I didn't know you were so attached to her already..."

Just at that moment, Misty mumbled a, "Come here Ash."

And Ash turned bright red. "Umm...uh, yeah, but see, we like each other? Because we're soul mates? Uh-huh yeah."

May rolled her eyes playfully, laughing at Ash's awkwardness, brushing Misty's hair away from her face. "I was just joking. I'm really glad you and Misty clicked fast...even though she complains about you, and is really tempted to hit you sometimes. The only thing preventing her from doing that is her foot, and the fact that she doesn't actually want to hurt you."

"How do you know?" Gary said, interest clear in his voice.

May sighed, "A little of best friend's intuition, and just girl talk. She clearly holds a high regard for you, Ash, and it's all in her eyes. She's stubborn as a mule and likes to bury her emotions, but damn does that girl adore you. She doesn't hang around because you are betrothed and have to, she hangs around because you've become one of her best friends, starting with how you dealt with her foot injury."

"When did you get so philosophical?" Dawn asked, amused. May shot her a toothy grin. "Dunno."

Dawn nodded in agreement though, "She's right. Almost everyone adores their fiances, but won't admit it. Take Misty for an example. Then there's Marina, who show's her affection for Jimmy openly, and Jimmy right back at her. She's not faking it."

"I have to agree with that," Gary admitted. "The way the two act...they are definitely best friends, and lovers. She cares for him deeply, even if she's shy in public. It's the small stuff. The way she always has to be touching him somewhere, or that when she stares off into space, she's always looking at him."

"How do you know this?" Ash asked, poking his cousin. "I mean, after all, you are the most lonely and hopeless one of us all."

"I know," Gary said quietly. "That's why I'm observing everyone else. They all seem to be able to get alone fine with their fiancees. Right? Like May, you would never admit it, but your bantering with Drew actually is entertaining and you really enjoy it."

May tilted her head with red-dusted cheeks and blinked her baby blue eyes at him. "Uh...sure?"

"And like we said, Ash and Misty, which is cute, but disgusting, all things considered. And Marina and Jimmy...and then there's me and Leaf." Gary's head drooped.

"I'm such a...fool. Imbecile. She's nothing like the girls I usually hang out with. They're floaty, clingy, shallow, pretty and flashy. Leaf's...in depth. She shows emotion, and she is an independent, confident, kind, _beautiful_ woman, and I was a fool, who thought I could play her like all the other girls. I thought that my charms and sweet talk, and...God, I am such a..." Gary trailed off miserably, burying his hand in his hair.

"You're an ass." Ash supplied.

"But I thought you two made up?" Dawn asked slowly.

"Yeah, but I have make it up to her. She knows how things are...with me. And my attitude. So...I have to show her. Those were her terms. She's going to trust me, this one time. And if I break her trust..." Gary shrugged. "I'm a dead man."

"That is very true," May agreed. "Leaf...is only so forgiving. She's been taken advantage before. So...yeah." She seemed hesitant to say anymore. "She's had a rough past, but haven't we all?"

"Huh?" The two boys turned to the brunette, eyes narrowed.. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh...nothing," May sighed with a faraway look in her eye. "None of us girl have had it easy. Though I suppose I've had it the easiest?"

"Don't say that May," Dawn said lightly, "You know that's not the-"

And the windows shattered.

"GET DOWN."

Ash was already pulling Misty down, cradling her foot gently, while Gary yanked down May and Dawn. The two girls sprawled over each other, but didn't make a sound.

"Stay down," he hissed as his brown eyes flashed with fury, slowly crawling towards the front.

"We're not stupid," May sighed, glaring at his retreating form.

"He's just trying to protect you guys." Ash said quietly.

"I know," May grumbled, but her expression softened quite a bit and she conceded to Ash. "I thought they were bulletproof?"

Ash had a confused expression before his eyes were drawn to the scattered glass on the floor. "The windows?" Ash asked. He brushed back wild hair, and he had a hard set to his mouth. Misty was gripping the haywire Velcro tightly, and her eyes darted down to her foot, which was twisted awkwardly. Her face was white with pain and she clenched her teeth and didn't complain at all.

May nodded, smoothing back Dawn's hair.

The bluenette was shivering, and she seemed like she was muttering, 'Not again.' over and over again, her eyes wide and dilated. Her skin had a shiny sheen, as if she was scared to the point of sweating through her clothes.

There was a gash the glass had cut into her arm, and it was dripping with blood. May was putting pressure on it, but it didn't seem to help.

The brunette had a few cuts of her own, and she looked liked they were bothering a little, but she didn't mention it.

"Who's going to go this time?" Dawn finally croaked, turning to stare at the fractured windows.

"What is she talking about?" Ash muttered, trying to scan the flashing lights outside of the car.

May simply put a placating hand on Dawn's forehead, and rocked her slowly.

Misty grunted as she shifted trying to keep out of view, but it was she who answered. "Dawn hasn't exactly had great experiences with shootings and other such things in the past. Lost nearly everyone she loves to them. So this isn't exactly a great situation. She has panic attacks every once in a while. We...train for this reason."

"Train?" Ash narrowed his eyes at the three girls. "What are do you mean?"

He seemed tense all of a sudden and almost...on guard.

"Who are you girls?"

"Us?" May said with soft venom. "We're just a few teenage girls who made it big in the music industry. The real question is, who're you? And what are you boys exactly?"

Ash took a shaky breath as he turned to Misty. "Mist?"

The drummer girl looked back and forth between her family, and her betrothed. "I..."

Misty took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly, the rough plastic beneath her fingers almost soothing. "We're part of the rebels. At least we've helping out more in secret than in actual confirmation. We've been feeding them information and helping them, and working with the Infiltration Section. We're basically hoping to get waist-deep in politics, while still reporting to the rebels. And if you guys are part of the Inner Circle, then things are going to get...messy. We train with the rebels. Physical fighting and shooting."

Misty gave a wary smile and pulled out a gun. "Surprise."

But unlike what the girls thought, Ash seemed to deflate and he actually seemed more at ease as Misty talked.

"So that's why we haven't heard about you guys yet," Ash muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" May frowned at him, her hand sliding beneath her skirt, no doubt reaching for her own gun.

Ash felt like throwing his head back and laughing openly, but their situation called for smarter choices.

"We're agents too, for the rebels," the raven-haired boy admitted. "But we're part of the Special Forces Section. They've debated throwing us to the Infiltration Section, because of how we made it big. But it was still in the paper work...and Steven didn't want to throw us to the dogs before too many things happened. We thought you guys might be Inner Circle agents. Specifically Paul and Drew, they were pretty wary. Who knew we were on the same team after all?"

"We were suspicious only to the point of not revealing what we were truly doing. We didn't actually mistrust you guys that much. At least, not as much as you guys mistrusted us," May explained quietly.

Another spray of bullets hit the side of the car. "If you are still alive, come out of the car with your hands raised. Or you won't be alive for very long..."

Ash's eyes darkened. "Not a chance in hell you bastards."

Misty slapped him on the wrist. "Language."

* * *

Gary hovered above the dead body of the driver nervously. Unsure what to do.

They had trained for this, over and over again.

They had been on missions, secret missions of course, but nothing like this.

He finally took a deep breath, and vaulted over the driver's seat. He tumbled ungracefully into the pocket between the seats and the wheel, groaning.

He hit his head a little, and the car swerved wildly before Gary slammed a hand into the brake pedal.

The car screeched to a halt, but the driver's limp foot was still on the gas pedal, so when Gary let go, it continued to move. He cursed loudly and pushed the brakes again, and gently removed the driver's foot off.

Another shower of glass fell upon him, and he groaned as they cut through his shirt. "Dammit."

"If anyone moves inside the car, they're dead." Somebody called out from the side of the road, and it was too dark for Gary to tell who it was.

He didn't know how many there were, or anything.

Gary pulled out some device from his back pocket, "Hey. Yeah, too dark, can't tell how many. At least two shooters though, from position wise. Move carefully. Send some men over. Yes, uh-huh. We're going to hide in the car...yup. Alright. Got it."

"Hey, are you okay?" May asked softly from the back, tempted to peer around the chairs, but Ash pulled her back with a disapproving glare.

"Fine," Gary grunted, moving along the floor, back towards the other three. "It's too dark for me to see anybody clearly, so I can't tell how many there are. Just stay down."

Ash nodded grimly at his cousin before pulling open a small hatchet in the bottom of the car and pulled out four black handguns. He tossed one to his cousin and cocked the other with a tight-lipped smile.

But soon enough Gary noticed. "Why do the girls have guns? Foreign guns? Ash?"

The raven-haired singer shook his head. "Not now. Just know that we can trust them."

Gary gave a curt nod and relaxed a little more. "I barely even trust _you_ ," he smirked to his cousin. Ash playfully stuck out his tongue before standing up and firing three shots into the night.

A quiet splattering noise made it seemed like he actually hit someone, and a grunt of pain only confirmed it.

"Stay down Mist," May said softly, but there was hard steel in her voice. Misty looked like she wanted to protest, but a quick look to her foot stopped her short. She sighed and rested her head against the side of the car, and didn't make another sound.

The thankfulness was in May's blue eyes.

"You girls know how to shoot?" Gary said gruffly, wiping away nervous sweat before aiming wildly and shooting.

"Of course we do," Dawn laughed lightly. She nudged Gary aside and actually peered over the shattered glass panels. Her dilated eyes caught a few shadows, which she aimed at, and shot.

The satisfying thunk of bodies hitting the ground allowed Dawn to grin smugly at the boys. "See?"

Gary whistled lowly. "Impressive. Though Drew would definitely out shoot all of us, if only he was here..."

"I'm glad he's not here," May mumbled softly, firing a few shots of her own.

"Why's that?" Misty groaned, glaring at her foot.

"Because..." May hesitated, and all color drained from her face. "Because..."

"Because you don't want him to be in danger?" Ash offered thoughtfully.

May swallowed thickly, and pressed against the side of the car as Dawn and Gary took shots. "Surprisingly, yes."

"Why's that surprising? I'm not happy at all that Mist is here...she's hurt already anyways," Ash asked confusedly.

"Don't be dense," Gary chided. "May's obviously not comfortable discussing her love life...but I have to admit. It's fun poking at them!"

Dawn let out an incredulous laugh as she continued her pattern. Hide, whirl, aim, shoot, hide again.

"I don't know...because I don't like him?" May muttered.

"Well you're soul mates...you're supposed to like each other," Ash noted helpfully.

"Yes cuz, thanks for the totally NOT glaringly obvious information," Gary quipped sarcastically.

"Huh?" Ash looked at him with confusion.

"He's making fun of you," Misty said pointedly, waving her arm. "Don't let him walk all over you!"

Ash thought for a second before he seemed to get it. Then he gave Gary a dirty look. "Seriously? I was just trying to be nice...and help."

Gary only smiled cheekily. "Hey, if I'm about to die, I'm gonna go out laughing."

"Fair enough," Ash grumbled, turning to shoot again. "But if we live, I'm coming back to get you."

Gary smiled back. "Fair enough. But let's live first, yeah?"

* * *

"Where are they?" Marina paced incessantly and Jimmy shot out an arm to keep her still.

"I don't know," Paul growled, slamming a fist onto the table with a hard look. "They should've been back an hour ago. They were right behind us at Interstate 3. Something happened. I can't believe I didn't notice that they were gone!"

"They can take care of themselves," Leaf offered. "I mean..." She hesitated visibly and turned to Marina. "Mar?"

The bluenette seemed uneasy as well, before nodding. "May said it was fine."

"Fine what?" Drew demanded. His eyes were bright with a mixture of fear, longing, anger, and downright hatred. Marina seemed taken aback as Drew glared down at her, but Jimmy gently shoved his friend away. "Hey, calm down."

"Calm down?" Drew asked tightly. "My fiance is out there with THEM out there! They could die! And Marina is here safe and sound! Don't tell me to calm down!"

That seemed to give Leaf and Marina a pause.

"Death?" Marina repeated softly.

"Death," Paul confirmed, his purple locks falling into his eyes as he pressed a hand to his forehead. "Dammit. It was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault, Paul," Drew said briskly, but he was obviously straining to contain his anger.

"No, you need to calm down," Leaf said commandingly. "Gary's out there too. And as much as hate him, he doesn't deserve death. And if all this is true, then they're in danger. What the hell are we doing here? And maybe some explanations on the way?"

"Let's go," Jimmy nodded approvingly, spinning the keys around his fingers. "We'll explain on the car, you girls owe us one as well."

The two girls shared another look, but nodded in agreement.

...

A few minutes later they were all sitting in silence in the car.

"Soooo?" Jimmy trailed awkwardly. "Guys?"

"We'll start," Leaf said brusquely.

"The other girls will tell you their pasts, but we'll tell you ours."

Leaf took one last breath and gripped Marina's hand tightly before starting.

"So when I was a girl, I was told to worship the timers. My family was actually pretty high up there, but as a kid I obviously didn't know. They taught music at the HU. My mom taught an assortment of instruments, and was the conductor and teacher for the band and orchestra. My father was the vocal instructor, and he was trying to get into the Inner Circle at the time. About a decade later, on my fifteenth birthday..." Leaf paused and suddenly burst into laughter. "Mar I never realized how old we are! We're almost twenty-four now!"

Marina blanched. "Seriously Leaf? Come on, continue."

Leaf gave her a sideways smile and brushed her hair back. "Oh come on, I was just trying to lighten it up!"

"Continue," Paul prompted, his voice still hard.

"Right. So...well, Hoenn University was huge. It was were all the corrupted kids went. And my parents...weren't exactly nice. In fact, they were relatively power-hungry, I guess you could say. But really, it was out of desperation. You guys know what I'm talking about. The peasant life is HARD.

"They were eventually killed off. Because..." Leaf hesitated, clutching her hands to her face. "Because of me. I spoke out against what the government was doing. One of my friends, Hilda, was poisoned to death because she tried to turn in another boy who was kidnapping kids and torturing them. But turns out he was doing the dirty work of the Inner Circle. The kids he was torturing were the rebel's kids. She didn't know that, so she was killed off. I thought the death was unnatural and looked into it. They didn't cover it up as well as they thought they did. I dug around a little and found a series of events. Similar events all over Hoenn. I gave a speech about it the corrupt Inner Circle..."

Leaf gulped and sighed, the familiar burn of unshed tears filled her. "I was already friends with Mar at the time. We were best friends, so I told her everything. I'll let her explain, but her family already was involved with the rebels, so she explained the complete rebel situation. I realized too late what I had done. I basically killed them. I essentially killed my parents. The Inner Circle became suspicious that they were Infiltration Section rebels.. ..and killed them off. They weren't taking any chances. And because of my stupidity...

"I couldn't believe it. I was lucky they didn't kill me off too. Mar explained everything to me, and I decided to join. I had no one to care for me. No one left to care about except my friends. So, I just joined. and then we met May and Dawn and Misty. We became a band after we found out all of our music talents, along with our involvements with the rebels...well, it was a great decision, because they're my sisters now. I couldn't live without them," Leaf finished softly, turning to Mar.

The blue-haired singer nodded. "Yeah. My story is shorter and sweeter than Leaf's. My family has been involved with the very first rebels. Like my grandparents were involved. Me and Mist lived across the country from each other but we were cousins and good friends. Our mothers were sisters, and Misty's parents died for the rebel cause. Her sisters raised her, as you all know. My parents...well my mom just disappeared. They're still looking for her. But many rebels have 'disappeared' as well, so they suspected the government. My dad is still alive and back at home, working behind the scenes.

"It was a whirlwind. Life growing up as a rebel's kids were dangerous. We were constantly acting and faking expressions and opinions...it was hard. But Leaf was my best friend. And like she said we got through our early life...with some difficulties. But during college I met up with Mist and her friends, made the band, became more and more involved in the rebels...We actually are pretty high up there. We are in charge of the Infiltration Section. Leaf and May cover most of the paperwork, Misty and me cover most of the training...and Dawn is really the acting/cover part. She always has a plan on hand just in case something goes haywire in a mission, or she'll have secret missions planned within our gigs and such thing.

"And then we made it big and now were here."

Jimmy snored quietly against the window and Drew nudged him awake.

"HEY!" the boy groaned. "What do you want?"

"Seriously?" Marina said airily, with an angry undertone. "You weren't listening at all?"

"No, I did! I just fell asleep at the end..." Jimmy yawned. "I'm sorry all of that...happened. But I'm tired."

"That is very similar to what we went through," Paul noted, leaning back.

"Yes," Drew agreed. "I still can't believe Steven didn't tell us that we were all rebels. It made us all suspicious, and...oh. Jeez."

"Yeah," Leaf agreed, yawning a little. Marina trained her eyes on her suspiciously.

"Hey! I'm tired tooooo," Leaf yawned.

"Hey, hey! We've found the car, screw backgrounds, let's save our friends first," Jimmy said, suddenly alert.

Paul nodded and pulled out handguns. "Girls know how to shoot?"

"Course we do," Leaf scoffed, tossing her hair back. "Lemme at 'em. They're paying for attacking our girls."

Marina nodded in agreement. "We're ready to go." She snatched a gun out of Paul's hand daintily as she hopped out of the car, discarding her heels and swaying barefoot across the grass towards the wrecked car.

Leaf winked at the boys and followed her friend, and the boys looked at each other.

"Sorry, but that's my girlfriend...and that was surprisingly hot," Jimmy murmured to Drew, and the green-haired boy tugged at the roots of his hair and glared at him a little. "Seriously?"

Jimmy grinned crookedly, "Of course!"

* * *

"Thank Arceus!" May whooped as she ducked past Paul to collide with Drew.

She wrapped herself around his torso, and the green-eyed boy groaned, but smiled nonetheless.

But enough was enough. "Alright, alright, I was worried about you to, now come on off, we've got more important things to do," Drew said lightly, prying May off him slowly.

"Okay, move move!" Dawn yelled, hurtling from the now burning car towards the rest of the group. "Paul go help Ash with Mist!"

Paul grunted before taking off in the opposite direction, from where Dawn had come from.

The blue-haired girl panted as she leaned over her knees, safely behind the rest of their friends.

Drew and May had taken up spots along the brush, taking shots at the attackers along with Jimmy, Leaf, Marina, and Gary.

"As soon as they come out, we shoot like crazy, don't let them get a shot in, and they let them retreat and back up slowly, alright?" May called over the bushes, her voice with a commanding tint.

"Yes ma'am," Gary agreed mockingly, but he saluted to show that he would follow regardless.

As the trio made their way out, the rest of their bandmates unleashed a torrent of bullets.

"Go, go, go!" May shouted as she met them halfway, tugging them alone. "Mist you okay?"

"Of course, I can walk, but no, you send these idiots after me," Misty scoffed, "But...thanks anyways."

Ash chuckled lowly, "Oh Mist."

"You can't even stand upright," Paul deadpanned, glaring at the top of Misty's head.

"Oh whatever," Misty grumbled.

"Let's just get you guys to the car, yeah?" May giggled.

In a rush of breaths, limbs and shots, the group found their way to the car unscathed, and the car peeled away with a loud screech, leaving the shouting attackers behind.

"We made it," Dawn said brightly, latching on to Misty.

"Yes, we did," Paul muttered dryly.

"Thank Arceus," Leaf murmured under her breath.

"Let's go home," Misty said softly, curling into Ash's side once more.

"Let's go home," Ash conceded, burrowing into Misty's hair, breathing in the smell of residue, burnt metal, and the ocean.

* * *

Gary didn't speak as he pulled Leaf into the room and shut the door with a soft click.

He scooped her up and practically tossed her onto the bed, pacing incessantly. Why couldn't the bloody woman stop crying?

Leaf continued to sob, hands covering her face, legs pulled up to her chest. Her jeans pulled around the knees, already a darker shade from her tears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Leaf cried into Gary's chest.

"Hey. Hey. Hey! Leaf! Hey! Look at me," Gary said brokenly, pulling Leaf into his lap.

The bed creaked quietly and the light flickered, buzzing slightly.

" _I'm_ sorry." Gary wiped away Leaf's tears with his thumbs. "You were right. You were right about EVERYTHING. Every little part of your description of me was wrong. And I'm sorry. So sorry. Stop crying sweetheart...I'm sorry."

"But you could've died...and...I would've lost my soulmate, and..." Leaf hiccuped as she burst into tears even harder. "I'm such a fool...because no matter how I disagree with your choices in life...and no matter how jealous and how hurt I get...I..."

"Oh Leaf," Gary sighed deeply, wrapping his arms around her tighter.

Her body was shaking, and the tremors didn't help Gary's frazzled nerves.

He had just been in a shootout a few hours ago.

"Hey Leaf," Gary repeated gently. "What don't you get? You were right. In fact, I'd be concerned if you didn't make it hard for me. Do you know all the horrible things I've done? You were right. I disrespected women. I acted like they were objects and didn't treat them with the care and love they deserve, simply because they flocked to me. And you know what?"

Gary pulled her off just a few inches. "When we first got famous, I swore to my dead mother that I would never let the fame get to my head. My father did, and that's why he left my mom. Don't know where he disappeared off to, but my mom died a few years later, hiding from the Inner Circle. She never even made it to the rebels. She was shot down before my eyes as she tossed me to the rebels. And that's how I grew up. Immersed in the rebels. Until Ash's mom found out her sister's son was there, and so she joined and took custody of me, but gave the official custody to my grandpa. And I met the other boys and got famous...and well, no we're here. I didn't realize what an ass I had turned into...until I met you. Come on Leafy. You make me a better person. You make me want to be better. I just..."

Gary sighed again, before hanging his head. "I want to make you happy."

"And now I just realize that _I_ was stupid," Leaf muttered lowly.

"I should have just taken what you gave me and worked with it. I mean, if we had parted on bad terms...and you being dead...I don't know...if..." Leaf released another sob.

"Well you didn't loose me. And I'm still here. How about we start over, the non-ass Gary and Leaf, yeah?" Gary soothed.

Leaf stared up at him with unruly hair, tear-stained cheeks and smudged, bloodshot eyes. "I..."

"Just say yes Leafy," Gary said, leaning into her face.

Leaf flushed but nodded. She suddenly seemed all modest and shy. "Yes."

Gary smirked and nodded in satisfaction. "Hi Leaf, I'm Gary Oak and I'm part of Dark Truth."

Leaf gave a tremulous smile, "Hi Gary, I'm Leaf Green and I'm part of Words Unspoken."

The couple dissolved into giggles.

But after a few moments, Leaf went back to crying, hugging Gary tightly.

"Never scare me like that again," Leaf whispered into his chest.

"I'll try," Gary whispered back. "I'll try."

* * *

"I thought you said there aren't soulmates?" Dawn said accusingly, burying herself into her pillows. But her voice was tinged with grief and sadness.

May heard soft sobbing, and sat down on the bed beside the large lump of cloth. She started pulling layers away with a melancholy chuckle. "I'm still not sure there are."

"It's not fair."

May sighed and pulled the blue-haired girl out, smoothing down a few wayward pieces. "Oh Dawn."

"No, it's _not_ fair. All of you have soul mates, and even...even Leaf and Gary...who had a horrible start mind you, and they're storybook perfect! Like come on, anyone could see that even Leaf cares for Gary. And Gary back. But you said there are no true soulmates, yet there seems to be soulmates here! And...and you're all leaving me. One day you'll all move out with your pretty husbands and I'm going to be here all alone.

"I'm going to grow old all alone, because who could like a whiny, crybaby bitch like me?" Dawn sniffled, leaning back with her eyes closed

She let out another pained sob and May's heart broke for her best friend.

"Oh Dawn...I..."

"Don't," Dawn said with a hard layer of ice pricking at May's ears. "I know you mean the best May, but there's nothing you can say."

"Then can I just hold you?" May pleaded softly, holding her arms out.

Dawn sniffled again, and complied.

May sighed into the petite girl's hair, giving her matronly pats on back.

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say. That was what I believed back then. And it's not like I've completely accepted Drew...I've been trying though. Whether I like it or not, I'll have to deal with him...and I might as well learn to get along with him. Any romantic stuff...well. You can date and love without being soulmates. Maybe my previous statement is true. There are no such thing as soulmates. It's simply the person you will love the hardest with. I don't know. He's changed my views a little. And I don't know what to think.

"And I don't want to tell you some stupid, cliche stuff...like that you'll find the one or whatever. I mean this is...this is HOLLYWOOD. I mean, anything can happen. But those Hollywood films, and those fake movies...it's just deluded. Love isn't constant and it isn't always reliable. I mean, it might not be their fault, but people can still die on you. At any time. I don't know how to make you feel better Dawn. I'm your best friend. But somehow, I'm also the person that manages to hurt you the most." May continued rambling, still smoothing back Dawn's hair and running her finger through it.

"I'm serious though that I care about you. And I don't want you to suffer. No matter how stupid this sounds...well here goes. No matter what, there'll always be someone who loves and cares for you Dawn. Be that me, the other girls, your 'soulmate'. We will always be there for you."

"I'm so stupid. I'm just insecure and..." Dawn trailed off, sniffing a little. "It's so stupid."

"No it's not," May contradicted.

"Oh cut me the bullshit May," Dawn scoffed. "I know that it's petty and stupid. But I'm human and I have feelings. That's just how express my feelings."

"Dawn," May said with a light laugh. "Language."

Dawn smiled cheekily. "Who're you? Marina? Mist?"

May stared at her for a moment with an incomprehensible look before breaking into laughter as well.

"Nah, their family raised them too proper. I'm surprised they haven't kicked Mist out though. She is the embodiment of improper."

Dawn laughed harder, leaning over and hugging her stomach. "I know! I can't..."

May smiled at her blue haired best friend and hugged her tightly again. "Glad to have you back Dawn. You're amazing just the way you are. Don't worry about what's to come...or hmm. Maybe I should word it...what's not to come? What might never come? Eh. Whatever."

Dawn laughed even harder if that was possible, practically rolling on the covers now.

May sighed as Dawn shrieked.

"Seriously?"

* * *

"Who were they?" May asked, stopping Drew short.

She had tied up her hair with her bandanna, and her face was taut with a tide of emotions.

He turned around with a hand buried in his hair, eyes dark and furious. "That, my dear...was the Inner Sons. And I hope you will never come into contact with them again."

"Huh?" Dawn plopped down next to May. "What do you mean? And seriously. WHY were we not notified?"

Charlie sighed, tapping his fingers unconsciously. "Well, you guys are in different divisions. Like when Paul brought Dawn in? We didn't recognize her because she answers to a completely different section. They're rather like different rebel groups. They actually keep secrets from each other, because they don't want moles to expose their plans and secrets. That's why you weren't told. Because there are moles in all the Sections and we didn't want some of them to know that we were on to them. See? In fact, the Infiltration Division didn't even bother telling us that you guys were part of it."

"Us as in the Special Forces Section?" May asked for confirmation.

Drew dipped his head in agreement.

"My parents were in the Special Forces Section," Dawn said softly. "Before they died."

Bella sighed, closing her eyes. "That's why you were so familiar. I should've put two and two together. Dawn Berlitz. Johanna and Ryan Berlitz's daughter. I knew your parents. And yours."

The blond turned to May. "I'm sorry."

They all watched as Gary and Ash tried to take each other down in the fighting ring, allowing all of them to think on what was just discussed.

"Hiya!" Ash yelled, a right hook catching Gary's chin, throwing him back a few feet.

"Go Ash!" Misty cheered, though she looked like she should be back in the hospital.

"Umph," Gary uttered before he shook his head and twisted around his cousin, sweeping his feet and trying to knock him over.

Paul slammed a rifle onto the table with the same quietly angry expression Drew had on. "They...are they 'training group', of the Inner Circle. Though because there are so many of them...the Inner Circle puts them to work. Too many are eager to escape the unfairness of the citizens. As an Inner Son, or an Inner Circle member, they're...nearly free. The Inner Sons work as an undercover...army. Police force almost. But if you rise through the ranks, and are still alive, you get yourself a spot in the Inner Circle...When they want to 'dispose', of a rebellious leader."

"So they're part of the corrupt government," May stated, her own hands clenched. "They're out to kill."

Paul turned to her. He observed her tense position. She seemed almost at the edge of snapping. "Yes. Yes, they are."

"And who are you exactly? I think we all need to talk about this. GARY! ASH GET OVER HERE!" Dawn called.

"I am...I am the son of the leader of the Inner Circle," Paul admitted.

The girls stared at him skeptically.

"You have got to be kidding me," Leaf groaned, practically collapsing into a chair. She glared up at the ceiling. "Do you even exist?"

"I'm sure Arceus exists Leaf," Marina sighed placatingly. "But let the boys finish."

"Right. So we are part of the Special Forces Section, working in capital...it's a mess. All of us have stories, that we'll tell you when we're ready, but they're all dark pasts...and our vendetta against the Inner Circle will never allow us to betray the rebels, so don't worry about it." Drew sighed, suddenly looking extremely tired.

"I guess we'll have to talk with Steven about this some more," Dawn said, groaning.

"Yeah, we will," Leaf agreed.

"You guys ready for this? This married couple thing and rebels and careers?" Marina questioned, twirling a little.

Jimmy snorted. "Of course not. I, personally, will never be ready to face life. But life's always coming."

"Nicely worded," Gary said with approval, taking a swig from his water bottle as he wiped off his forehead. He tossed another water bottle to Ash with a smirk.

"But I'm ready to face the world with Mist," Ash said brightly, wrapping an arm around her.

"Eww," May teased, tapping Misty on the nose.

The orange-haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to get The Spot!" Misty shouted as she hobbled up the stairs, "See you guys there!"

"No fair!" Drew yelled, right on her heels. "That's the best place for the movie!"

"I know you dumbass!" Misty said with glee.

"Lovely," May sighed, following the pair with a smile. "Welcome to life...Arceus I need an aspirin."

* * *

 **AN: I wrote the yawning part...because I'm dead tired and and yawning a lot. Night guys.**

 **Yippeeeeee! New twist! ;) Inner Sons...I'm gonna have fun playing with this criminal organization. :D**

 **-Ange**


	9. Chapter 8

**AN: So guys...you should read this AN. In other words:**

 **YOU SHOULD READ THIS AN IN CASE YOU GET CONFUSED IN THE STORYLINE!**

 **Anyways, I'm going to be kinda skipping forward in time, and a couple months are going to go by. Because nothing interesting happens until their relationships progress, and I want to portray it, but not in excess amounts. And then some of the drama and angst and important stuff. XD**

 **The italics explain the time change, from what happened last chapter. If the line break does not have italics, then it's just a slight break in around the same time.**

 **There's a reference in this chapter. Can you catch it? ;)**

* * *

 _1 Month Later_

Their private gym was absolutely beautiful. They had finished it almost six weeks ago, and they were definitely putting it into good use. May was sure appreciating the show. She was up with Jimmy next.

"Umph!"

Drew cursed colorfully as Dawn smashed him into the mat again.

May high-fived her best friend with a quirky smile.

"Too bad. Better luck next time?" Dawn offered him her hand, her eyes filled with mirth.

Drew cussed again, but reluctantly allowed Dawn to pull him up.

"That was hilarious. Maybe you should practice more?" Gary gloated dancing in front of his friend.

"You want to face her?" Drew grumbled, swiping at his forehead.

May giggled before patting Drew on the head. "Nice try buddy."

Drew muttered insults under his breath. "You know you have to marry me right?"

"Pfft." May stuck out her tongue. "So what? We all know who's the boss in this relationship."

"Uh...maybe the guy?" Drew said with a roll of his eyes.

"So we're sticking with being sexist, eh?" Dawn laughed, rubbing her hands. "Actually, that was an excellent idea FROM BEFORE." She gave Drew a pointed look. He shrugged and smiled innocently. "Gary, how about you come up here and I'll beat you up too?"

"Huh? Uh...no thanks!" Gary backed away, face deathly pale.

"I thought we were going to spar?" Jimmy whined to May, who suppressed a smile.

"We can spar later Jimmy. I want to see Dawn punish Gary for that stunt last week at the mall. He KNOWS how much we hate the press." May flopped down at the table, head in chin thoughtfully.

Jimmy groaned before sitting next to her, waving over the others.

Leaf and Drew walked over from the treadmills.

Leaf grinned at Dawn over his shoulder. Within moments Gary was tossed onto the mat, both girls grinning gleefully.

"I said I'm good!" Gary yelped, scrambling to get up as Dawn sat down on him.

"I'm not getting till you agree to spar with me!"

"I'll spar with you."

"Huh?" Dawn spun around on Gary's back, causing him to groan lightly.

"Oh shut it," Dawn said out of the side of her mouth. "I barely even weigh a hundred."

"Riiight," Gary groaned.

"So you'll spar with me?" Dawn asked the purple-haired man walking down the stairs. "But you're no fun! You're too serious."

"How about when you beat me into the mat I'll be not serious?" Paul offered, his mouth in a half-smile.

"You're never going to beat him," Gary perked up from beneath Dawn, his face right on top of the mat.

"Hey! You shut it," Dawn said, poking him in the spine.

A muffled 'ow', sounded from below her.

"I've almost beaten him before. But we were...what did Charlie call it? Evenly matched?" Dawn sang.

"Uh...yeah, sure whatever just let me up!" Gary complained.

"It's not my fault you didn't want to spar with me," Dawn sang.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO DIE!" Gary yelled, heaving and trying to throw Dawn off.

Dawn giggled and rolled off. Gary continued bucking though, and Leaf snapped a picture and quickly uploaded it to Pokechat with a bull filter.

She added a caption:

 **Hell yeah! Bull-riding! At least there's nobody in the ring with him! My fiance...a bull...this relationship might've just changed a little ;)**

She showed her phone to May who giggled loudly and showed Drew.

By dinner time the entire house knew about it, and by the next morning the photo had gotten over one million likes.

By the next morning, it had achieved the most likes in history. Over 5 million likes and counting.

"I guess we got famous," Drew smirked, leaning back on his chair.

"Don't do that," May snapped, slapping him on the head as she maneuvered around the small kitchen. She was once again making breakfast for everyone, which had become routine. May and Dawn took breakfast, the boys scrounged together lunch, and the rest of the girls took dinner.

May always got up before everyone, and Dawn soon after, so it was nice for everyone else to wake up to a nice, big breakfast.

"Sorry," Drew said, fully reprimanded.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU POSTED THIS!"

The three of them winced as the entire upper floors seemed to shake with Gary's anger.

Leaf's light giggle filled the large mansion, and house later, they were still chasing each other through the winding passages.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS THE LAST TO KNOW ABOUT THIS!" Misty chased Ash, who was running screaming.

Eventually, Misty calmed down and allowed Ash to escort her down to breakfast, both of them grinning goofily.

"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me!" Ash claimed brightly. Misty looked like she was going to argue, but shook her head and closed her mouth, following Ash quietly.

Marina followed her cousin with a slight shake of her head, her own rumpled appearance obvious. "She just HAD to trap him in MY room."

Leaf came down with wild hair and a smug smirk. Gary tumbled down behind her, his shirt glued to his back.

"See? I'll always win Gary baby," Leaf said with a certain amount of aloofness. She turned her nose up, green eyes twinkling merrily.

Gary groaned, trying to pry the sticky stuff off. "I have to go shower now. Dammit Leaf."

"Language!" May called.

"Now that's a story I'd like to hear," Jimmy laughed, sliding into a chair.

Dawn felt some dark feeling inside of her shift and twist inside of her, and shoved it down.

As they all sat down to eat, Dawn shoved May towards the open chair next to Drew with a forced smile, quietly berating herself.

And Dawn, through all the jealousy, smiled.

She was glad that her friends were all getting along. She was glad that her friends were looking forward to getting married. She was GLAD.

At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

 _I'm so pathetic and petty._ Dawn thought miserably, pulling the frittatas out of the oven.

She set them on the table, handing out plates with a large smile that still felt forced. Why was she feeling like this?

before backing out of the kitchen, allowing Drew and May their space. She glimpsed May kissing Drew on the head with a content smile before tearing out of the house, escaping into the yard.

Their voices faded and Dawn heaved a deep breath.

"Hey, where's Paul? And where's Dawn going?"

Dawn felt guilty tears burning behind her closed eyelids as she slammed the back door shut, racing with bare feet across the large five acre yard.

The small forest, and by forest, it was a decent sized, two acre forest.

 _Perks of being rich._ Dawn thought grimly, putting on the gas and running harder.

The soft, well-kept grass just made tears burn harder.

She disappeared into the undergrowth before taking a deep breath, her eyes wide with relief.

Tears had already began filling up, and Dawn just felt melancholy. And deep, rooted jealousy.

She glared at her timer angrily, tears blurring the electronic screen as it counted down.

 **06:03:02:14:21:31**

Six YEARS.

May, Misty, and Dawn had all had similar timers. And they had all been excited over it. Dawn would've came first, then Misty, then May.

But how things turned out...wasn't quite the same.

But they were drifting apart.

All of the girls were sisters. They were family. They lived with each other, ate with each other, danced to crazy songs together, complained about the Inner Circle with each other, but nothing was the same.

Dawn laughed bitterly, "Why am I feeling this way?"

She shook her head. "Now I'm talking to myself. I just don't understand. They never want to watch a movie together. They never want to do anything that we've done before. All they want is to spend time with their new fiances.

"We all agreed. We AGREED we wouldn't bow to the Inner Circle's laws easily. We agreed that we'd be careful before diving into relationships. I'm not stupid. I know that if they truly are their soulmates, it's not like they can help it. But all they want to talk about is the boys. It's not fair. I still have to wait six God-damned years before meeting my soulmate. It's just not fair."

Dawn crumpled, folding in on herself as she muttered things to herself.

The birds still chirped merrily and the breeze still swayed the wildflowers and ferns.

The small brook she had sat next to still bubbled along happily, and the stones beneath her were still burning hot in the sun.

Nothing changed.

Even though she had named what she was feeling, and explained herself, she still didn't feel any better. And the jealousy hadn't left either.

She just felt...empty.

Dawn felt a sob swelling up, images of the couples getting close flashing behind her eyelids.

But she swallowed it down, refusing to be a bratty, jealous person.

"Why do I have to feel like this?" Dawn murmured, casting her eyes down, hugging her knees.

With another shuddering breath, Dawn pulled herself up, walking gloomily into the forest.

The deeper she got, the darker and denser the forest became.

The cheery chirping faded, and the sound of the brook as well.

So the dark shadow that landed in front of her was completely unexpected.

"Wha!" Dawn yelled, throwing herself onto her back with wide eyes.

She panted on the ground staring at the treetops with a taut body. "Please don't kill me."

She heard a deep snort, before a tanned hand came into her vision, followed by a familiar face and a wreath of purple hair. "Why would I kill you, Troublesome? Why the hell are you out here so early?"

"I should be asking the same question," Dawn grumbled, taking his hand.

Paul hauled her up with no problem, still towering over her.

"I'm out here because I slept out here. Alright? I don't always sleep in the house. I don't know what they did to our old house, but no matter how big your house is, it's extremely closed-concept. I can't stand it. Why am I still talking?" Paul seemed to mutter that last part to himself.

Dawn sniffed, trying to wipe her drying tears inconspicuously.

But Paul being the quiet observer he was, immediately took notice.

"You've been crying." He stated it like a fact, not a question.

Dawn shook her head frantically, backing away quickly. "No I'm not."

Paul gave her a 'don't shit me look', and Dawn gulped, still backing away. Paul matched her step for step, slowly her backing her into a large oak tree.

"I'm not! I was just by the brook and..." Dawn blurted it all out, her face full of pretend innocence.

Paul's glared at her with silent fury, getting closer and closer to her.

Dawn's back thumped against the trunk, and Paul's body only got closer.

He was practically pressing against her as he caged her in with his forearms, his eyebrows raised. "Ready to be honest yet?"

Dawn swallowed and hummed tunelessly, pretending to look anywhere but the harshly cut face of Paul.

But after a few moments, she met his eyes, and they were panicked and half-undecided. Yet somehow still cold and angry.

He backed away, releasing Dawn, but she was frozen, unmoving.

"If I need your opinion, will you be honest?"

"When am I not?" Paul offered, a small blush gracing his cheeks.

Dawn took a deep breath and started. "I'm jealous. Like really jealous. Of all of them and their perfect little relationships. And I still have nothing."

Paul raised an eyebrow, folding his arms.

She saw his response and rushed out as much as she could. "And it's not fair and I just feel left out and alone and-"

"And you feel guilty feeling this way."

"Huh?" Dawn stared at Paul. "Yeah. That's right."

Paul gave her a rare smile, "Yes, sounds about right for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dawn huffed, back on the defensive.

"Nothing. Just that you have an easily guilty nature. You like to blame yourself for things out of your control. And an inferiority complex. You probably blamed yourself for not meeting your soul mate yes? And for feeling jealous?"

"How do you know all this?" Dawn asked suspiciously, her voice filled with awe.

Paul shrugged from a few steps away, staying silent.

Dawn studied him.

He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked thinner and more unkempt than normal. And almost...distracted. But Paul was never distracted. He was always laser focused, trying to do the best for people. He was always detached, unfeeling so he couldn't get hurt. He was cold and distant, but really, he listened and observed, coming in when people most needed it.

Dawn was shocked at her own observations and revelations. She seemed to get it all of a sudden.

"It's because you feel similar. You don't want to. You want to feel detached and unfeeling, but the fact that they all seem to be getting along perfectly bothers you too," Dawn realized, her mouth dropping into a perfect 'o'.

Paul ran a hand through his hair, picking up the habit from Drew. "Maybe."

"And that's why you've been hiding out at the rebel place, and out here so much. You don't want to be caught up in all the romance and new friendship and feel petty jealousness when there were more important things involved...weren't you?"

Paul didn't answer.

This time it was Dawn who walked forwards, staring at him in the eye. "That's how you knew."

Paul glared at her, before slumping his shoulders. "Not completely...but essentially? Yes."

"Yes!" Dawn danced for a second her eyes bright, her previous sorrow forgotten in the moment.

Paul sighed again, starting to walk back to the house. "But I'm not hiding out here because I don't want to feel things. I'm spending less time there because it's easier to be away and working with the rebels than to interfere. If I'm there, they'll always try and include me. And I don't want that. I just want them to focus on each other for now, because things won't always be so sunshine and rainbows, and I want to them to have their fill of laughter and fun while they still can. I came to terms with the loneliness and jealousy a long time ago. Now I've talked enough. Let's go back."

The silence carried between them, and Dawn couldn't help but tempt fate again. Paul had already shared and spoken a lot more than he usually did in a week.

"Is that what I should do?"

Paul stopped walking, stared at her for a moment, before continuing on, still silent.

"No."

His response startled her, who hadn't expected one at all after the first ten steps.

The space between Dawn's eyes creased. "No?"

"No."

Paul didn't say any more, simply walking leisurely along the path.

"You're not me. You're an extrovert. I'm an introvert. I love my friends, but I thrive off having my alone time. I can handle large periods of quiet and loneliness. You? You need your friends, and you thrive when the entire house is full of laughter."

"You're right," Dawn admitted, "But then what should I do?"

Paul didn't answer yet again, his face thoughtful.

Dawn was getting frustrated at his short and scarce answers.

"Just answer me will you?" Dawn finally said, exasperated.

Paul resisted a smirk, but allowed himself a wane smile. "I think you should talk to your friends. And tell them how you feel."

"But..."

"They're your best friends, are they not?"

"Yeah. They are."

"There's the conviction I'm looking for. Now go."

The bluenette stood at the door, following Paul with her eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Just getting something. I'll be right in. Go on." Paul disappeared around the corner, and Dawn took a deep breath.

She could do this. They were her best friends. Right?

* * *

 _1 Month 1 Week Later_

Misty let out a deep sigh, burrowing under her covers.

Daisy, Violet and Lily Waterflower called today.

Misty groaned, remembering the phone call clearly.

Maybe she needed a walk. What could Hollywood really do?

It was almost midnight...

But Misty mentally berated herself. She was stronger than that!

And hour later, a hoodie, converse, iPod, and a water bottle later, Misty was walking across the large park in the neighborhood, back to the house.

"Misty!"

She heard only a faint call through the thrumming beats of music, but turned to look nevertheless.

Ash slammed into her, setting her off balance.

They almost crashed into the ground, but Ash caught her just in time.

"We couldn't find you anywhere! And this time after dark! You should've told someone where you were going!"

On the surface, Misty was feeling irritated. She wasn't a baby who needed to be coddled! Just because of her injured foot? It was already on the mend!

She felt her defensive nature rear it's ugly head, and her hands clenched into tight fists. Her face set into a grim line, preparing for another fight and...

Misty stopped herself short.

This wasn't her sisters. This wasn't a place where she had to fight her way through everything. This wasn't the painful place she grew up in, where every day was a struggle to go without being berated.

Her friends had shown her kindness and love when her sister only told her how much she sucked.

That's why she had agreed to be friends with Dawn and May.

But deep down, she knew it was only because Ash cared about her, and that was the only true reason he was this frantic.

"Hey. I'm right here and I'm okay. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone, I needed to go somewhere, alone. And I needed some piece and quiet. You know?" Misty explained, spreading her arms in a large gesture.

Ash's large, dark eyes flashed, and the worry and fury receded a little, his normal bouncy joyfulness returning. "I know, I know. But I was just worried. I care about you Mist. A lot. Not just because we're soul mates. I'd like to say we're really good friends too, okay? I want you to tell me where you're going at least. And whatever it was that drove you out of the house...it's okay to tell someone. And if no is around, I'll be there. Okay?"

Misty opened her mouth, as if to accept the deal...but closed it again.

"Thanks Ash. But I think I'm going to go find May and Dawn."

Ash gave her a warm smile. "Of course Mist! See ya later! I need to go pound Drew and Gary in Splatoon."

Misty laughed, shoving her fiance away with a tug of his hair. "Go on, I'll find you later."

He shot her another excited smile before disappearing into the house, Misty following in suit.

She found Dawn and May with ease as the two of them were arguing loudly.

"It's my plushie!"

"No it's mine!"

The two girls fell on the bed, full of giggles as they hugged the large, stuffed puppy between them.

Misty stood at the door way with an unimpressed expression. "You guys done?"

They looked at their third best friend before bursting into laughter again.

"I'm sorry...you just look so miserable and amused at the same...time...oh...I can't...stop...laughing!" Dawn chuckled, holding her stomach.

Misty clicked her tongue impatiently, but a soft smile broke across her face.

"I got news. From my sisters."

That sobered up her friends real quick.

"What happened?" Dawn sat down worriedly, picking up Misty's limp hand. Her body seemed void of tension, as if the mere mention of her sisters left her broken and worn.

"They called to talk about the anniversary of our parents death. They're still convinced that it had nothing to do with government. They're actually working for them now. They're under an entertainment company for the government now. They were scolding me for my involvement with the rebels. They dont' know for sure, but they're suspicious. And they threatened to turn me in, told me I'm a useless musician...and a shame to mother and father.

"How do they tear me down every time? You would think after growing up with them...that I'd be immune to it. I'd be immune cruel words of my sisters." Misty felt the fire burning within her, but it was just out of reach. They always managed to beat her down.

Down so far, Misty didn't know which way was up. She didn't know who was right and who was wrong.

She let out a nervous breath.

"They're you're family. I should say fake family. We're you're real family. But they are your blood and flesh. You can't help but take them seriously," Dawn comforted, wrapping her best friend in a hug. May joined in, and between the two girls, who had double-handedly flipped her world upside down, she felt safe.

"But I'll never be free of them. I don't know if I can kill them. But sometimes, they make me feel so cold and angry and hurt and...depressed..." Misty let it all out in a breath, her face scrunched in pain as she struggled to hold back tears.

"It's going to be okay," May whispered, tucking her head into the crook of Misty's neck.

"How do they do it?" Misty murmured, feeling slightly better.

"They've had years of experience," Dawn laughed bitterly. "I still remember what it was like when you came to the park all stone faced. We had asked you what happened...and when we found out, we told you to come over to one of our houses whenever something went wrong, remember?"

Misty smiled fondly. "Yeah. I remember."

"And you know why now it's even better?" May asked in a whisper.

"Why?"

"Because now, you don't have to live and see them everyday. And now, we're just across the hallway."

Misty let out a deep breath. Leave it to May to see the bright side in every mess.

"Now can we get a smile?" Dawn pleaded in a strange, wonky voice. Misty let out a breathless laugh, smiling.

"There it is!" May celebrated, smiling.

Misty hugged her friends tighter. They really were the best.

* * *

 _1 Month 2 Weeks Later_

"Hey."

Paul looked up at the breathless brunette.

"Come on."

"Where?" Paul didn't budge, shielding his eyes from the sun.

May rolled her eyes, tugging him up. "Drew's hiding on the beach again. Stop reading in the car. I swear, you're just like Dawn. Just because you two don't have soul mates in this group doesn't mean you can't have fun. It's a day at the beach. We have a show later here anyways. Might as well go see it."

"So...you go see it," Paul replied flatly, retreating back within the darkness of the car.

"I don't understand how you're so tan when you hate the sun and don't even use a tanning machine thing. Do you get a spray tan then?" May sighed disapprovingly.

Paul stared at her like she just grew wings and flew away. "What? Of course not! I don't do anything to my body!"

"Huh. I guess Dawn wins that one..." May thought aloud.

"What are you on about now?" Paul grumbled, tucking his feet on top of the brake.

"Nothing. We just do bets. Now come on! There's a whole day of fun awaiting! You can read later."

And then May literally snatched the book from Paul's grip, her face full of grim determination. "Maybe you can get Drew into the water then too."

"I don't have to do anything woman," Paul growled, crawling out of the car reluctantly.

"So why are you coming with me?" May pointed out happily as she danced along the path to the beach, Paul trailing a little.

Paul's eyes closed with concentration. "Because you have my book?"

"Noooope!" May laughed. "It's because you DO like the sun and you DO like the beach, but you're just feeling left out and lonely like Dawn is!"

"Would you stop telling me what I like and don't like?" Paul muttered. "And stop comparing me to that noisy, troublesome girl."

He picked up the pace, passing May and power walking towards the colorful clump of beach towels the girls had laid out. Drew was spread across one, sunglasses on and only in swim trunks. He almost appeared to be sleeping.

May handed him his book, heading towards the shoreline eagerly.

Paul kicked up more sand as he rushed towards his friend, almost desperate to escape to the safety of Drew's presence.

"Go have fun!" May called cheerfully as Ash pulled her towards the water, where Misty was twisting around with ease.

May rolled her eyes again, as Paul simply sat down on a black towel, opening his book and reading.

"Dear God. Where's Dawn? She seems like the only one who can get him to talk."

Ash splashed her complaining about her not participating in their water games.

Marina and Misty agreed loudly as Leaf simply laughed to herself.

Gary and Jimmy were all fooling around, trying to dunk each other the longest.

Leaf was only slightly worried that the boys would eventually drown.

May watched as Dawn, who had came back from a food cart, licked an ice cream cone and sit down next to the two boys.

She wanted to linger and watch longer, but the sparkling water was calling, and May was never the one to forfeit a perfect sunny day.

The brown-haired girl dove back in the water, once again joining all her friends.

* * *

 _2 Months 1 Week Later_

"Are you serious?"

Marina felt her heart sink as she glared movie theater board.

"They're sold out again!? BUT WE CAME EARLY THIS TIME!"

"I know, I know, but Mar you're drawing a crowd," Jimmy soothed.

Marina already felt her annoyance calming down and shot her boyfriend a thankful smile.

"So. Since we can't watch the new Star Wars movie...What can we watch?"

"Well, there are a lot of options," Jimmy said slowly, pointing at the beautiful display. It had pictures and videos and names and prices...

It was enough to make a person's head swirl.

The large computer like electronic was propped up on a stand, and it had a touchscreen and a ticket machine that accepted your money and immediately printed out your tickets. It even showed you how full a theater was, and showed you where you could sit. Marina thought it was quite useful.

"I can't believe it still," Marina grumbled as they both looked over their options.

"I know I know. We reserved a spot, we've been here three days in a row. Yeah, it's stupid," Jimmy agreed, tapping on the trailer of one of the more interesting movies.

"This is Disney?" Marina asked as the trailer played to halfway.

"Uh-huh," Jimmy answered, practically enamored with the movie.

Marina felt a happier smile spread across her face. "You're serious?"

"Oh yes," Jimmy nodded. His face filled with excitement once more.

Marina laughed at his expression. "Alright! So this movie's the one?"

Jimmy nodded, clicking for two tickets.

"Alright Jimmy! Let's go watch the Jungle Book!" Marina announced to the entire theater, and Jimmy groaned.

"Marina, just because it's the theater doesn't mean that you need to be theatrics!"

"What if I want to?" Marina sang, tugging him along towards the popcorn booth.

Jimmy let out a loose laugh, shaking of the nerves, stares, and whispered comments.

He was glad that Marina had long since seemed to forget about their fame, letting nothing get to her.

But Jimmy was a bit more soft-hearted, and he felt every stare like they were drilling a hole through his head, making him aware of every little thing he did.

In fact, there were even obnoxious people taking pictures with their smartphones.

Jimmy almost groaned, but Marina was already holding the popcorn and drinks, beckoning for him to follow.

He did it obediently, and was rewarded with a smile that filled the room.

That, was why he adored her.

* * *

 _2 Months 3 Weeks Later_

"I don't believe it."

The cameras flashed and microphones flashed in her face as Leaf felt her stomach drop. But she would have faith.

She would prevail.

Gary had promised he would be loyal and there was the law to answer to.

But when she was within the confinements of the hotel, she surfed the internet for the picture.

She couldn't believe it.

Gary was indeed cuddled up to a blond haired girl, who was smiling up at him. The girl seemed to be older than him, and a lot prettier than Leaf. Warm brown eyes stared back at her from the page, and Leaf only felt a sense of self-depreciation.

They were spotted at Broadway, watching a musical.

A musical that Leaf had wanted to go to...with Gary.

But Gary was out with a different girl?

She didn't understand.

Leaf remembered now.

The brunette only felt brokenness as she remembered how her boyfriend had declined the tickets, and claimed to be busy with more work and stuff, and not having time. He had been busy a few days earlier, excitedly pouring over his phone.

And now...another girl?

Leaf wasn't usually a jealous girl. But she was jealous, and she couldn't help but be suspicious. Seeing the picture in front of her, it just confirmed her worst fears.

Tears streamed down her face as she cried openly.

She glared with teary eyes at the piano set up across the room. Her eyes connected her notebook to it, and in a flash she was moving, tugging out the pencil holding her hair up, snatching up her song book and sitting down at the piano.

Leaf took deep breaths, measuring out her temper before funneling it into hard, broken anger.

She played a few minor chords, playing with the tune a little before starting on the lyrics.

With her green eyes closed, hands dancing across the piano, Leaf began to sing everything she was feeling, just going along with whatever her head came up with.

 _I know I can't take one more step towards you_  
 _'Cause all that's waiting is regret_  
 _Don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore_  
 _You lost the love I loved the most_

 _I learned to live half a life_  
 _And now you want me one more time_

She wrote the first verse in a hurry, her fingers moving faster than her head seemed to follow. The story seemed to be half of hers, half made up. That how all of her songs were. But it was the chorus that really mattered. It would allow her to express her feelings, truly.

 _And who do you think you are?_  
 _Runnin' 'round leaving scars_  
 _Collecting your jar of hearts_  
 _And tearing love apart_  
 _You're gonna catch a cold_  
 _From the ice inside your soul_  
 _So don't come back for me_  
 _Who do you think you are?_

Everything just seemed to fit perfectly, and Leaf felt a sad smile take over her face.

The only positive this seemed to create was that it enabled her to write broken, heartbreaking break up songs.

 _I hear you're asking all around_  
 _If I am anywhere to be found_  
 _But I have grown too strong_  
 _To ever fall back in your arms_

 _And I've learned to live half alive_  
 _And now you want me one more time_

Leaf nodded, writing down the lyrics in loopy print, satisfied. When Gary heard this, he would KNOW how she felt about all this.

 _And who do you think you are?_  
 _Runnin' 'round leaving scars_  
 _Collecting your jar of hearts_  
 _And tearing love apart_  
 _You're gonna catch a cold_  
 _From the ice inside your soul_  
 _So don't come back for me_  
 _Who do you think you are?_

The chorus repeated here just seemed correct, because it was the second verse after all.

 _And it took so long just to feel alright_  
 _Remember how to put back the light in my eyes_  
 _I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed_  
 _'Cause you broke all your promises_  
 _And now you're back_  
 _You don't get to get me back_

The bridge was the most emotional for Leaf to write. It left her drained and hurting.

How could Gary do this to her? When he knew that her worst fear was people abandoning and leaving her.

He knew it. Yet he still did it.

 _And who do you think you are?_  
 _Runnin' 'round leaving scars_  
 _Collecting your jar of hearts_  
 _And tearing love apart_  
 _You're gonna catch a cold_  
 _From the ice inside your soul_  
 _So don't come back for me_  
 _Don't come back at all_

 _And who do you think you are?_  
 _Runnin' 'round leaving scars_  
 _Collecting your jar of hearts_  
 _Tearing love apart_  
 _You're gonna catch a cold_  
 _From the ice inside your soul_  
 _Don't come back for me_  
 _Don't come back at all_

 _Who do you think you are?_

 _Who do you think you are?_

 _Who do you think you are?_

"Leaf!? OPEN THE DOOR!" Gary screamed, but Leaf only sobbed harder, curling up inside herself. It was nearly two hours after Leaf had finished writing the song. She decided to title it 'Jar of Hearts'.

Fitting, she supposed.

It was nearly six hours after the articles and photos came out.

Leaf cried and cried, not even hearing the extra keycard sliding in the door and opening.

Gary took in the room.

Leaf was somewhere under the amassed covers, because he could hear her pained cries emitting from there.

Her song book was strewn across the piano haphazardly, her guitar case sitting open. It was clear that she had been writing.

He strode towards the song book, reading off the page.

Gary felt dread as he read it. More and more words glaring at him.

"Oh Leaf."

"Go away!" Leaf cried, her voice filled with hurt and anger.

It was absolutely agonizing for Gary to see Leaf like that. No, hear her. He was sure just the sight of her broken face would break HIM.

"I think the media got to you before I did."

"What are you talking about? GET OUT! How dare you just..." Leaf spluttered as Gary pried the covers away from her, taking her small hands in his own.

"Leaf, what do I need to say for you to listen? I'm sorry for being distant and not telling the truth of where I was going. I didn't know how you would react. That's my only other living relative other than Ash. That's my older sister Daisy. I hadn't seen her for a long time, and I had hidden her away in a far corner of Hoenn, where the government's reach doesn't reach that far. I was keeping her safe. But recently, it became only more unsafe there.

"She's here to work with the rebels, but since no one knew who she was, I wanted to talk to her and see her in person, by ourselves. I had bought tickets for the musical nearly a month ago, just waiting for her to arrive. She was my sister and I haven't seen her...oh why am I even making excuses?"

Gary started tearing up as he tried to gather Leaf up in his arms.

Evidently, he failed. Leaf hid her face, her eyes red and puffy, face splotchy.

Gary felt the sheets beneath her, and they were absolutely soaked with her tears.

"Oh Leafy...I would never cheat on you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. You make me nicer, kinder. Less arrogant. You make me grounded, and you love me and care for me too. Someone, who is an arrogant asshole, who would be a womanizer and a huge jerk without you. You fixed me. You make me want to be a better person. You make me want to LIVE! I could never cheat on your soft brown hair, and those tiny hands, and those beautiful, big green eyes, and that amazing voice, and that big, big heart." Gary reached over to wipe away her tears as Leaf's sobs dissolved into sniffles.

This time, Leaf let him.

"Truly?" Leaf said hoarsely, her voice incredibly scratchy from crying.

"Truly. I...love you. And I don't ever want to loose you. If in ten years...you wake up and realize how much I don't deserve you and want to leave...then I won't object. Because Leafy, you mean the world to me. In the short few months that we've been together, I've realized that I NEED you. I need you to wake me up and smile at me. I need you to glare at me when I'm prepared to be an asshat. I need you to hold my hand when I'm nervous, because we all know I'm rude and a jerk when I'm nervous. I can't possibly go back to life without you. Don't you SEE?"

Leaf laughed brokenly, throwing her arms around Gary's neck. "I'm sorry for assuming and writing that horrible break up song."

Gary chuckled into her neck, holding her tight as he pulled her off the bed. Leaf wrapped her legs around him, clinging to him like a monkey.

"It's okay. I would've done it too in your position. At least that song will be a hit." Gary carried her to the bathroom, before setting her down. "You want to clean up now? I'm taking you to dinner. To show them all just how much more you mean to me. My sister is my sister and I love her to death. But you are the girl I'm going to marry, and the rest of the world will treat you as such."

Leaf tried to refrain from giggling as she pushed him out of the room, locking the door. "I'm sure you will wow them all. Now go!"

"So we're all good?" Gary asked hopefully outside of the door.

Leaf stared at her red-rimmed eyes, puffy and splotchy face, and wild hair before nodding. "Yeah. And Gary? You know that...you know that I only had this reaction...because I love you too."

She could practically hear the smile in his voice when he replied, "Yeah, I know. And just to remind you, I love you. And I'm never letting you go."

* * *

 _3 Months And 2 Weeks Later_

"No, you're wrong. You're WRONG!"

"I can't..."

"You're joking. You have to be joking."

"I'm not."

"But...but that means..."

"Yeah. That means that things are...going to change. Forever."

May rubbed her damp cheeks blinking away the pain. Drew wrapped a tight arm around her, his own mouth set in a tight line.

Dawn swallowed dryly, her face hard and angry.

She couldn't believe it.

May's parents had been invincible. At least...that's what she told herself.

Now they were all orphans. Every single one of them.

Dawn felt some part of her crack. May's parents...Caroline and Norman had become her own parents. They had adopted her, and so technically she was sisters with May.

But they were real sisters because of their friendship.

And Dawn truly loved her adopted parents. But the Inner Circle had taken them too. No, not the Inner Circle. The Inner Sons.

Or rather both.

Dawn clenched the pillow harder, glaring at Brock. "You're sure."

His tanned face was tired and filled with worry lines. "Yeah. I wish I wasn't. The OrderGuards came this morning with their bodies. But...it was an operation. This was done...to deter May and you from joining the rebels. Because...there's still Max. And they sent a low key threat to his life. But it's nothing that we can expose them with. We're stuck. And they still died in vain."

"They didn't die in vain!" May yelled, tears already streaking across her face.

Dawn shook her and took a shuddering breath as everything rushed to the pit of her stomach.

She promised herself she'd never let herself be hurt again.

She promised that she would keep everyone safe. That night, when her mother died, curled up in the Maple's guestroom, she PROMISED herself.

* * *

 _"Promise? Pinky promise? We HAVE to go to the bakery soon!" Dawn smiled toothily at her father, tilting her head with a childish innocence._

 _Dawn's father sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Alright sweetie. I pinky promise."_

 _"Okay! Let's do Mommy's thingy!"_

 _Dawn's father smiled wearily as he allowed his daughter to take pleasure in whatever she could._

 _She didn't know that the bakery was monitored now. She didn't know that they were trying to sniff out rebels, or that their money was running alarmingly low._

 _Any money that they spent now was rationed by the rebels, and it was dangerous. But Ryan Berlitz still agreed, because what child didn't deserve a little chocolate every year or so?"_

* * *

 _"A kiss?" Dawn murmured sleepily, tugging Johanna's hand tighter to her, her eyes opened drowsily. "Will you stay?"_

 _Dawn barely felt the kiss, but her mother's lips did press against her damp hair._

 _"Always. Always Dawn."_

 _Dawn drifted into oblivion, content and satisfied for the first time in a long time._

* * *

 _"I told you!"_

 _Dawn twirled happily around May, who smiled at her friends._

 _"Best friends forever?"_

 _"Of course!"_

 _"Sisters?"_

 _"Uh-huh! For sure!" Dawn hugged her best friends with a giggle._

 _"Promise to always be?"_

 _Dawn grinned._

 _"What a silly question May! Of course I promise! You're my soul sister!"_

 _The two grinned at each other before singing together._

 _"Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo," they burst into giggles, but continued on nevertheless._

 _"The way you move ain't fair you know." They turned to each other with identical glares, and perfectly timed huffs._

 _"Hey soul sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you do-" They turned to each other with grins._

 _"Tonight!" The shouted together, alerting a few parents in the park._

 _"Heeey heeeey heeeey." A soft voice joined in shyly, staring at the other two girls nervously._

 _Dawn smiled widely and beckoned for the small orange-haired girl to join them._

 _"Way you can cut a rug," May started, the other girl tentatively joining in harmony. May and Dawn shared a smile. The girl was good! And had a good ear._

 _"Watching you's the only drug I need," Dawn continued, pointing eagerly at the girl._

 _"So gangster, I'm so thug," the girl sang, Dawn singing with her._

 _"You're the only one I'm dreaming of." They pulled her in between them, dancing in a slow circle around her._

 _"You see I can be myself now finally._ _In fact there's nothing I can't beeee!"_

 _"I want the world to see you'll be with me._ _Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo._ _The way you move ain't fair you know._ _Hey soul sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight."_

 _"Hey soul sister, I don't wanna miss a single thing you do tonight._ _Heeey heeeey heeeeey (tonight),_ _heeeey heeeeey..."_

 _The three of them held their breaths before releasing it in a gush. "Tonight."_

 _The let out breathless giggles as the collapsed onto the ground with big smiles._

 _"Hey, what's your name?" May asked as an afterthought._

 _The girl chuckled harder, rolling a little._

 _"Misty," she finally said. "My name's Misty."_

 _The other two smiled._

 _"That's a pretty name!" May commented, patting Misty's shoulder._

 _"Yeah Misty! I think you're great! You want to be in our best friend promise? Me and May have only known each other for two days!" Dawn exclaimed jumping up and down happily._

 _Misty stared at them contemplating. "Well, okay. But my mommy and daddy are gone. I only have my sisters. I dunno. You probably can't come over..."_

 _May shook her head, brown hair flying as she rolled her eyes. "Please."_

 _Dawn mimicked her, but added a foot stop and placed her hands on her hips with a large grin. "We don't care! Just meet us in the park!"_

 _Misty seemed to warm up again, looking a little happier. "Oh! Alright. I promise to always be best friends and soul sisters. Yes?"_

 _"Yeah!" May and Dawn cheered, their tiny fists thrown up in the air._

 _The threesome fell to the grass, laughing once again._

* * *

Promises were important. Dawn never broke promises.

Which meant she didn't make them easily. She never guaranteed anyone her time, she never promised anything without thinking things through.

She had learned it from her parents.

They had never promised things without actually meaning it, and that was a big deal to Dawn.

She promised. And she failed.

Dawn could feel the darkness creeping in as she slumped against the couch.

Somehow, she felt the energy to crawl up and head towards her bedroom. She was walking blankly, registering nothing.

She left her sobbing, adopted sister in the arms of her fiance/boyfriend, and fell into her own bed.

Her sorrow coping mechanism had long stopped kicking in.

Now it was just...darkness, and black nothingness.

But Dawn welcomed it, and as she sat there, burrowed in blankets with the lights off...She couldn't be feel as if this dark part of her, the dark part that hated herself for being so weak, was a serious part of her.

She couldn't help thinking that this might've been the thing to do it. This might've been the thing that finally caused Dawn to snap.

Warm, comforting darkness filled her, and cocooned her. Her curtains were open to the starry night, and Dawn let out a quiet sigh.

The Inner Circle had taken too much from her.

And at that thought, she was filled with cold determination.

The Inner Circle had taken too much from her, and too much from everyone.

From Paul.

Leaf, Misty, Ash, Gary, Jimmy, Marina...they were all orphans.

All broken families with broken children.

Hell, some of them were the only ones left they knew in their families.

Marina had a brother, and Jimmy also had a brother.

But both were gone. Marina's brother had gotten out of the country, somehow escaping over the border, and leaving Marina by herself.

Jimmy's brother had been murdered in cold blood along with his family.

Dawn felt the cold, dark anger rise again.

No more. It was enough.

Dawn would take down the corrupted government.

She would take down the Inner Circle, the Inner Sons, and those cursed OrderGuards that never meant anything good.

She would do it all to her last breath.

And in the dark emptiness inside of her, she made a new promise.

No one would take her loved ones from her again.

"Never again," Dawn whispered, her voice laced with anger. "Never again."

* * *

 **AN:** **Not really much action(like with the rebels), but a lot of character developing, and angst...and feelings...and events! It's a really long chapter! I debated splitting it in half...but I decided not to. And because it's so long...I was too lazy to edit. Sorry? I'll probably go back and edit everything later. But now...I need to sleep...I have swim practice early tomorrow...*yawn*.** **Also another negative...it might be almost 2 weeks until I update again.**

 **SCHOOL'S STARTING GUYS! XD**

 **I can't wait...yet I'm also dreading it. I got a lot of my friends in my homeroom, and my dream teacher! But I also got a guy who's practically been mean to me since birth. And I'm not just blaming him. I will admit that when he riles me up, I'll fight and insult him too. Heh heh. Anyways, he's in my homeroom along with a bunch of his friends. -.- Lovely.**

 **I'm ramping up the angst now!**

 **And yeah I used Hey Soul Sister by Train with baby May and Dawn. XD** **Leaf wrote A Jar of Hearts...yeah.**

 **Also...**

 **Here. Just leave it in a review if you want to vote, or go vote on my poll, I don't care.**

 **Would you guys be opposed to me killing off a main character? I mean...I don't really care. If I don't, it seems cliche, if I do, I don't want flames. Soo...Please go vote and give me advice on what I should do. Thank you! :D**

 **-Ange**

 **AN:(added like...12 hours later) I didn't quite answer why Leaf and Gary where in a hotel. That month they had gone to play a show in 'New York'. Hence, Broadway. Daisy met them there, and was going to go back to Hollywood with them. That's why they all had hotel rooms. But because we're skipping around, you didn't get to see the rest of them. Sorry. ;)**


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm sorry about the late update! Very late! Sorry! Don't kill me!**

 **I'm dealing with this huge mess at school. My math class is messy because of this pre-calc algebra 2 nonsense, and science class is also all screwed up. I'll probably have to walk at least three times to the high school to take classes...and that sucks because high school gives more homework...yeah. My schedule has been changed 7 times now. -.-**

 **Trying to catch up on homework and running on about three hours of sleep...yup.**

 **So...after this chapter, I'm working on one more, and then I might have to go on haitus, or AWOL for a month, maybe even two. Too much to handle. I think this fic might reach around a total of between 60 and 80 thousand words. Like four to six more chapters?**

* * *

It was months of the entire drill over and over again.

Get up, play the fame game.

Concerts, shows, they even went on tour. The due date of Words Unspoken and Dark Truth's weddings were arriving soon.

Months of blankness and blandness. The same routine over and over again.

Each of the pairs of soulmates found themselves getting used to the other's presence and habits.

Misty's foot healed as she seemed accept Ash's worrying and mothering.

Instead of just groaning and moaning about it, she smiled and laughed at his cheesy jokes more.

May and Drew had a strange, but good relationship. They made each other smile and happy just as much as they fought.

May reluctantly began to care for the green haired boy, and Drew in turn became defensive and caring about his fiance.

Jimmy allowed Marina to be her creative self without ever putting boundaries on anything. He allowed her to write on the walls of his bedroom, let her redecorate the entire area, and never complained when her stuff started appearing in his room.

Marina sheepishly, and secretly enjoyed the freedom. Her friends often loved and cared about her, but not the same way her fiance did.

Leaf still rolled her eyes more than she smiled at Gary's stupid pick up lines, but he softened her up slowly. She allowed him to take her and romantic, cliche dates, if only so she could reprimand him about etiquette and manners.

Dawn still continued to feel left out and out of place. She smiled and faked a laugh when she was supposed to, played guitar and sang like she was supposed to. But in those hours alone, she practice her fighting skills, improving her aim and strategy. While her friends were out on dates and interviews about their new relationships, Dawn found herself immersed in training.

She barely noticed when the quiet, purple-haired boy started joining her. She just calmly accepted it.

And it became their thing. When their friends ditched them for other people, they found themselves at the training center below Dolphin Recording Studios.

Paul just continued being his cold, harsh self. But even he found himself smiling when the group shared a joke, He found himself not as irritated anymore when one of the girls did something he usually didn't tolerate.

May's morning routine didn't bother him as much, and he made sure be back to the house before 6:30 so he wouldn't be yelled at by Leaf.

Marina and Dawn's tendency to drag them all out didn't make as grumpy as it did before.

He had already admitted to himself that the bluenette was pretty, but he found that the talkative girl loosened his tongue the same way a couple drinks did. As they trained, he found himself actually talking to her, and sharing the news he had heard from the grapevine.

And in return, he filled his life with chatter and brightness that hadn't been there before.

Things were slowly moving and they were all adjusting to the sudden shift in their lives.

Things were beginning to change.

Just like they had to adjust when they started living with their bandmates, they were adjusting to this new life they were living in.

* * *

They moved silently, and for the first time, Dawn actually felt good being paired up with the cold, silent boy.

This was relieving. Running. Being on a mission.

Taking down OrderGuards and Inner Sons and all those bastards. Dawn took a deep breath, hovering over the junction between the door and hallway.

He nodded from across the hallway, his face betraying nothing.

She slipped forwards, her feet barely dancing across the ground, never leaving a sound.

He followed, just as silent.

Dawn raced through the corridors, barely pausing to look at signs, darting through shadows and lights, Paul on her heels.

"No! I was promised the spot! I WAS PROMISED!"

"Well I guess the spots mine then," another man said churlishly. "I don't care if it was yours."

She winced at the thundering voice. A splatter of blood was heard a second later.

"No! You can't kill him!"

A threatening growl ripped through the room, and the first man fell silent.

But another thud, and Dawn peeked around the corner, hoping that the dye in her hair would conceal any signs of her. Hoping that she would blend well enough into the shadows.

There were two men on the floor, their throats sliced open as another man cleaned his dagger with a satisfied expression.

"That spot is mine. And neither of you greedy pigs are going to get it," the last man snarled.

She shot a dubious look towards Paul, who tilted his head thoughtfully. Then he nodded, his own dyed black hair framing his dark eyes.

Dawn slipped into the room, careful to keep out of sight. She heard a soft nick as Paul followed her.

A few seconds later, the future Inner Circle member was dead.

She would've smiled, but Paul was already gliding over to the papers the dead men had. He was careful not to leave fingerprints as he read them over quickly. Dawn guessed that they were important as he pocketed them instead of putting them back.

Dawn moved through the room, checking for anything else that may help them the rebels, and ended up with a stack of names and files. Of course most of them were fake, but the fingerprints and pictures were useful. They could run face match-ups She turned towards Paul's questioning gaze.

She nodded her head slightly, careful to leave the rest of the useless papers as undisturbed as possible. If they came to investigate, perhaps they wouldn't notice the few papers that they took too fast.

Then with another nod, they were slipping back through the halls, making their way out of the Inner Sons stronghold.

It was only the large blaring alarm that halted them.

The red bulbs began flashing as a cold woman's voice repeated over and over again, "Intruders."

Dawn shared another look with Paul. He raced down the hallway without a second look, and Dawn skidded after him.

They both tried to be silent, but when shouting voices and pounding footsteps followed them, they abandoned all sense of procedures, and simply sprinted down the halls with fueled desperation.

Escape doors loomed ahead, but a small group of Inner Sons appeared, their masks impeccable.

But the pair whirled through them, leaving a spray of blood and a pile of bodies behind as they continued on their way, pushing through the doors into broad daylight.

May, Marina, Gary, and Jimmy were waiting in a blue car, and when they two got in, they peeled off onto the main streets, hoping to blend in as quick as possible with the surroundings.

They had switched the license plate, so that the one on the front and the one on the back didn't match, which would hopefully throw off any cameras.

Gary barely registered the wailing sound of OrderGuard cars and Inner Son cars chasing after them before he pressed the gas pedal, his face lined with concentration.

"Take the next left," Paul rasped. "They're gaining too fast. We won't make it to the rendezvous point without them catching us. We need to throw them off a bit. Marina, May you two remember Ty's place? We'll drop you guys off and can you tell him that it's Code Burn? He'll buy us time. Then meet us out back on Elm Street. Are we all clear?"

They all nodded, wisely choosing not to contradict Paul in this.

Gary slammed down on the brakes as May and Marina tumbled out of the car, running towards the front of the store.

The others didn't wait to see them safely inside before they were shooting down the street and swinging by the turns.

May and Marina sprinted into the store, and Ty, a brown-haired man stared at them calculatingly before asking, "Another Code?"

The store was dingy at best, and the food shelves were in disarray, but the Ty was staring beadily at them from behind the counter. The old-fashioned cashier station was dirty and grimy, which caused Marina to grimace at it. The refrigerators in the back hummed as it leaked water onto the chipped tiles.

May took all of this in, her blue eyes darting around as she nodded. She gasped softly, "Code Burn."

Ty's eyes widened incrementally, but he nodded. "Yes ma'am. Head on out back."

He pointed towards the old metal door towards the back, the glass in it shattered and fractured.

Marina tugged on May's hand as they saw the familiar blue getaway car pulling up, Gary's frantic gestures urging them on.

The two girls slid into the car as the loud sirens filled the air once more.

Ty left the store through the front door, and even though May was curious what he was doing, she knew that getting away was more important than to sate her own curiosity.

"Safe?" Dawn asked softly, clutching the armrest tightly.

"Not yet," Gary growled as another OrderGuard car veered onto the street in front of them, heading straight for them.

Paul cursed colorfully.

"Pedal! And swerve when it's about ten feet!" May called, her own hand holding onto Marina's.

The turquoise eyed girl stared at everything nervously. "But the speed and the force...there'll be a collision!"

"Shoot 'em, shoot 'em!" Dawn called, nudging Paul.

Paul's dark eyes lit up in recognition as he pulled out a couple guns that he had on because of the mission.

A few well aimed shots only had them careening towards sure collision.

"Thirty-five feet!" Marina cried out, shutting her eyes in panic.

Paul gritted his teeth as the large van bolted straight towards them.

"Come on Paul! Don't miss!" Dawn said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She had full confidence in him.

Paul breathed deeply as they neared.

"Twenty-five feet," May warned.

And then Paul fired the bullet.

And the OrderGuard driver slumped over. The OrderGuard car turned sharply to the right, crashing onto the sidewalk and into some street.

The entire car let out a sigh of relief.

Gary continued on, speeding past the intersection the OrderGuard van had come from, racing back toward the rendezvous point.

They pulled up to the large gray building under a large tarp.

They ran for the door, joining the large flow of people.

A couple minutes later, they were underground, mixing in with the rest of the people fluidly. They were lost in the crowd, and none of them could see where the others were, but they communicated through comms.

"I'm in," Dawn said lowly, sidling up to a young girl and smiling at her.

"Can't see any of you," May agreed. "Car sixteen?"

"No," Paul intervened, "They're onto sixteen. Listen. Fourteen then take two."

The loud yelling voices washed over the quiet buzz of the subway station.

"Move out of our way! Government business!"

"Shit," Gary groaned. "Get a move on guys."

"Yeah yeah," May sighed.

"I'm in," Marina whispered.

"Me too," Paul agreed.

"Damn, I can't find it!" Dawn hissed, spinning in a slow circle as she tried to locate the subway car.

"To your right, Dawn," May offered helpfully, slipping in to the correct car herself. "I'm in."

"Ah, gotcha May." Dawn made her way quickly towards the subway car as more OrderGuards swarmed the area.

"I think I'm in the wrong car," Gary said with a panicked edge.

"So get outta there!" Marina said sharply. Gary shook himself out of his scattered stupor and moved.

Gary's comm was static as he raced to make it before the door closed.

He skidded out onto the main street again, and quickly located subway fourteen. He ran towards it, trying to avoid the OrderGuard in the mean time. The doors started to close, and Gary cursed loud enough for everyone else to hear clearly.

"Almost there!" Dawn encouraged as she pulled him in, the doors slamming shut behind him.

The subway took off and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Any OrderGuards get in?" Paul asked urgently.

They all scanned the subway car for any sign of the law enforcers.

"None that I can see," May said hesitantly.

"Shit! I can," Dawn mumbled. "He's in the car in front of us and sweeping through the entire area. He...as inter...s t... He's jam...ours."

"I...him," Marina said.

Within moments he was dead on the ground.

"Got him," Marina confirmed, her voice much clearer.

The other passengers gasped and murmured uneasily, but no one could tell who had thrown the knife at the OrderGuard's throat. Soon enough they simply went back to what they were doing, but everyone was on edge. This was a brutal world they lived in.

If you couldn't afford security, you had be on guard for robberies and other attacks at all times anyways.

Suddenly, their comms exploded in static.

* * *

Maxie and Archie looked at each other with goofy grins.

"We caught them in the act." Archie announced.

"We did," Maxie agreed, his own eyes filled with joyful greed.

"How much information do you think we can torture out of them?"

"I dunno. A good amount. We can't publicly persecute them. We'll have to keep them on lockdown, and watch their every move until we can move."

The two Inner Circle leaders stared at each other gleefully.

"So how're we going to do this?" Maxie said, growing serious.

Archie gave a slight shake of his head. "We can't screw this up. They're influential. And they have power. We have to tread very very carefully here. Perhaps...I dunno. Torture them, release them, watch them, wait for them to make a mistake."

"Ah...so we'll have to plan carefully."

"There'll be a rescue, for sure, correct?" Archie said lowly.

Maxie nodded. "For sure. We'll just let them go. But...we'll have a few things in there to help things along."

The two leaders smiled at each other again.

"We've got this," Maxie nodded.

"We just have to be careful," Archie murmured. "Never get too boastful."

"True, but confidence isn't bad. We'll have the entire region...well really country, in the palm of our hands soon." Maxie took a large swig of whisky, his eyes bright with anticipation.

"Don't plan for things that might not happen," Archie reminded.

Maxie tossed his head back with a laugh. "That's why we're such good partners Archie. You keep me in line, I get you excited for the future."

Archie nodded sagely. "Yes. We mustn't forget our goal, but we also shouldn't let our successes get to our heads. Though we are quiet close to victory. Quelling the rebels once and for all with this crushing defeat. Especially since those kids just recently found their timers. Won't they have to get married soon?"

"They have a while," Maxie said thoughtfully. "But we'll have to act quick. And we should always keep an eye on the rebels too. See if they follow up with any moves."

"True," Archie agreed. "If they try and contact each other, that's a sure way for us to get information. Can we keep them at gunpoint?"

"I suppose," Maxie sighed. "We'll have to overpower the rescue mission and make a deal with Words Unspoken and the Dark Truth.

"Why?" Archie asked with slanted eyes. "Can't we just let them go and watch them from afar?"

"How will we force information from them then?" Maxie said quickly.

"No, having a forced release is better. We can offer them something they can't refuse," Maxie continued.

"What?" Archie sat forwards with eager eyes. "What do you have in mind?"

Maxie just grinned. "You'll see Archie."

* * *

"Shit. Why do we always get the bad news?" Drew sighed, rubbing at his forehead tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked, sitting down next to his friend. He patted Drew's back awkwardly as Drew clasped Jimmy's hand with his own.

"Apparently the rest of them got caught. By the Inner Circle. They're gone if they're not returned by a few weeks. Or...you know what that means."

Jimmy swallowed hard.

"We have to rescue them!" Ash said quickly, his warm brown eyes flashing. He was practically daring any of them to challenge his decision.

None of them did.

"So how are we doing this?" Leaf asked softly. "We can't do it ourselves. I trust the rebels have a way to take down the OrderGuards and all the other security they'll have set up?"

"Of course they do," Misty scoffed. "They piss me off sometimes. How do they even allow this to happen? Half the citizens are rebel sympathizers, and if they aren't, it's because they're too scared of the Inner Circle. We just have to show them it's worth it."

"Well not everyone's intelligent," Drew muttered. "People have known too much loss to risk it."

"Well they should be smart! And loss? You want to talk about loss, Andrew Hayden?" Misty snapped.

Drew groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Now you sound like May. God. Let's just get them back safely, okay?"

"Yeah, I second that," Ash nodded, his eyes trained on Misty. "I'd hate it if Mist was the one gone."

"Oh we know, lover boy," Leaf teased, her green eyes filled with worry.

"We'll get them back. We'll get them all back," Jimmy reassured her, as he stood up.

Drew got up as well, twirling the keys. "So who wants to drop by the studio with me?"

None of them answered, but they all filed out orderly with grim looks. If things went well, they'd have their friends, fiances and fiancees back soon.

If not...

Well. None of them wanted to know what would happen if they didn't have get them back.

* * *

"You all realize what this entitles, don't you?" Bella said grimly. "You know how much support and soldiers we'll loose?"

Charlie nodded along with her, his eyes dark and sad. "Theoretically, and statistically? Its not worth it. We'd loose too much, only too gain too little. In fact, you never know, the government can't publicly criticize anybody who works in the music industry. They're just that popular. They'll most likely be allowed to return, but they will be watched like hawks. The government is already suspicious of some singers. You guys aren't the only ones on the rebel side. We could just stand around and do nothing."

"That's my fiancee you're talking about," Jimmy said quietly. "I'm not abandoning her."

"Neither am I," Drew agreed cuttingly. "If you won't help, we'll do it ourselves."

Both boys had their fists clenched as their protectiveness came out a bit more.

But it was Leaf who took a deep breath and inserted herself in to the conversation.

"What if I managed to make this look like campaign. The Inner Circle knows how many fans we have, and knows that they don't want to mess with us when it comes to that. Correct?" Leaf was calm and collected, but her hands moved back and forth quickly.

Charlie and Bella shared a look. Bella nodded. "Of course."

"So we could make it look like a morality thing, and maybe play it off as a fake arrest, or that they were wrongly accused. It'll anger the fans and not everyone here just wants money."

"You forget how poor most of your fans are," Charlie reminded her.

Leaf nodded, "I know. But think about it, they can't kill everyone. They still need the mass labor force. Are we still going to attack them? That's the problem here. If you guys attack them, they'll know it was the rebels and can righteously accuse them of their crimes, but if we manage to get them out...all by ourselves? Wouldn't that work in our favor?"

Bella frowned.

"It would work...theoretically," she admitted.

"The thing is, it would be extremely dangerous for you guys. And if you also get captured, it'll be horrendous. We'll be forced to try and extract you, and then we're back to our first problem," Bella pondered.

"Could we just demand for their release?" Drew asked. "They don't have anything to go off, and if they claim that they're working with the rebels..."

Charlie shook his head sadly. "Wouldn't work. I'd bet they're torturing right now to get information. We'd never get through the legalities and all that other shit in time for them to leave unscathed."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Marina said, frustration clear in her voice.

"We'll have to do it ourselves. Risk it."

They all looked over with surprise at Ash. His eyes were filled with determination, but when they all stared, he blushed and shrugged sheepishly. "What?"

"Never thought I'd see the day where Ash would be the mature one," Drew laughed, bumping his shoulder with his friend.

Ash looked confused for a second before grinning as well.

"You'll help with supplies?"

Charlie nodded. "Of course. Now let's talk about entrance plans."

* * *

Leaf tugged her black mask lower, her eyes wide with anxiousness. The others followed suit, making sure that they were unrecognizable.

She tightened her grip on her gun. She checked the silencer on the gun. They didn't want to raise suspicion this early on.

They were going to rush them. She couldn't mess this up.

She shared a knowing glance with Ash.

The raven-haired boy nodded slightly.

Misty exploded out of her hiding place with Drew and Jimmy on her heels. Gunshots rang out as bullets ricocheted off the small, enclosed space.

Leaf followed quickly, ducking around the two boys.

But Misty just moved on confidently, shooting down OrderGuard after OrderGuard as she tried to avoid getting shot.

They broke their original formation when there were no more opponents. Time to watch each others backs as they broke their friends out.

Leaf was right behind her as Ash and Drew flanked them. Jimmy caught the rear as they quickly disposed of a couple dozen OrderGuards, and moved towards the holding cells.

But it was almost as if they were prepared for them. More OrderGuards just kept coming, and Misty cussed heavily beside Leaf.

When they reached the prison doorway, Misty stopped and hovered at the door.

"Get to the cells. Leaf, get them out with weapons. Jimmy, Drew, cover her. Ash, with me," Misty ordered quickly, standing in front of them as Ash stepped up next to her.

The other three quickly ran to do their jobs.

Within minutes they had found their friends' doors.

"Come on, quick! Where's the bolt cutter?" Jimmy mumbled as he tried to wrench open May's door.

Drew tossed him the tool, and got one out himself.

Another few minutes later, everyone was out and they had joined Misty and Ash at the doorway.

As a unit, they started to move towards the door.

May, Drew, Marina, Misty, and Gary would punch a hole through the horde of OrderGuard as Dawn, Paul, Jimmy, Ash and Leaf faced the other way, forming a rough oval.

Once there was an opening, they all rushed through it as the OrderGuards which had been in between the door and their unit, was now behind them.

And just like that, they continued moving through the entire Inner Circle prison.

* * *

She was a sight to behold.

Daggers flashing, blood spraying, hair flying...Paul thought she looked beautiful. And then he dived back into the fray.

Dawn shot him a wild, feral grin as she tore through more OrderGuards. She waved once as she slashed a throat open. Paul found himself waving back as he continued killing.

With a tilt of her head, she was gone, back amongst the writhing bodies in the hallway.

Something stirred inside. Something protective. The urge to charge towards her and keep her behind him at all times was suddenly huge.

Paul shook his head. Get everyone out safely before worrying about his own feelings.

* * *

Drew ducked as an OrderGuard kicked towards his head, and May shot him in the head.

They worked together flawlessly as Misty and Marina joined them, all four of them back to back.

The entire point was to get everyone out alive.

So far, so good.

But knock on wood.

An brown-haired OrderGuard came at May with cunning brown eyes.

Marina shot him down. Drew nodded in satisfaction. They could do this.

Everyone could get out safely.

He hoped.

He didn't feel guilt. It wasn't the time.

But he sure as hell was pissed at the Inner Circle. They fucking made them wear jumpsuits, like the rest of the poor victims they imprisoned. They had not been fed and given water in the last 48 hours.

Drew was pissed.

And he took it out on the OrderGuards.

* * *

Marina could only feel numbness as she crawled into Jimmy's bed.

They were all safe. Safe and unhurt.

A miracle.

She fell asleep with a warm body against her back.

Safe and warm. Unlike the past few days in that dark, cold prison cell.

Marina let out a sigh of contentment. She was going to be okay.

And she was going to make the Inner Circle pay.

* * *

 **AN: Welp. so...what do ya'll think? ;) Again...don't hate me for the late update...please?**

 **-Ange**


	11. Chapter 10

**AN: I know, I know, long wait(like 3 months). I didn't quite realize it's been THAT long...** **Sorry about the delay and everything guys. Just...life...and other stories...and NaNoWriMo...heh heh. D:**

 **Good news is...I'm no longer on haitus! XD I wrote over 37k words for NaNoWriMo, which I'm gloriously happy about. ;) And btw, I'm going through editing(grammar, typos, etc), all of TES, and DWTLU. So, there might be slight changes, but nothing big that you absolutely NEED to reread the fic(s) for(Especially TES, but rereading this fic may be a good idea, I'm changing SOME things I don't like)...but if things come up that you don't remember happening, or things you don't remember being said, I'd suggest you go back and reread the chappies I have out.**

 **Oh and I went to Cali over winter break...it's been a while. :/ oops?**

 **But enough chatter! Let's get back to the story!**

* * *

"Are you serious?"

Everything was going to hell and Iris was worried about their absence in the central light. Of course, they'd gotten everyone back safely...but still.

Dawn placed her phone on the bedside table. She groaned, rolling over and landing on the ground. "Dammit."

"Dawn?"

May's head poked through the door, her hair in disarray. "What happened?"

"Fell," Dawn sighed, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Out of the bed."

"Only you," Marina laughed, prancing into the room.

"What is this, gather in Dawn's room day?" Dawn grumbled. Her bright pink room was illuminated by the rising sun. The large king sized bed easily fit all the girls as they spanned the space with overlapping arms and legs comfortably.

"I'm not missing anything, am I?" Misty walked in, a tray of steaming food heaped on it.

"Please tell me that's for us," May begged, her eyes trained on the food as she tugged her pajamas pants further down. "I mean, you can't bring food into the bedrooms and not expect us to eat it."

"That's just you," Leaf muttered dryly, tapping a pencil against her chin. "None of us have that requirement, May."

She lugged around a clipboard with sheets of empty staves. She jotted down notes and lyrics as she went, looping around the other girls to help Dawn up. "I might float around the house a bit. Need to write a new song."

"I guess this is really gather in Dawn's room day," Dawn said sleepily, but she didn't seem to mind too much.

"Yeah May, this is for you guys. Thank me later. I already had breakfast with the boys. Your soulmate made it May, so you can thank him later. I think Jimmy and Ash tried to help, but only managed to ruin some of it. Perhaps Gary was the only one who did anything. Paul's out back again, dunno when he's back." Misty placed the tray atop Dawn's dresser, dropping down onto Dawn's ottoman.

"So, what TV do you guys want to watch?" Marina prompted, twirling the TV remote with a small smirk.

May gaped at the food before turning to her friends. "You aren't even going to eat first?"

"I think the TV's more important."

"No it's not!"

"Of course it is."

"Anyone want to talk about the other gender occupying this house? I mean lately you've all bee-"

"-No!"

"NO!"

"Definitely not."

"Yes, we totally want to talk about THEM right now Leaf. And plus, it's not like you're so different! You're definitely waay more enthusiastic about Gary AFTER he learned that being a douche didn't earn him any brownie points."

"Sorry, sheesh. You all just seemed like you needed to...talk about it. I don't really know."

"Just...Okay. TV," Marina pointed at the screen.

"Right."

May let out a small groan as she faced her friends. "We literally haven't gotten anywhere."

Dawn nodded, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. She flashed a smile. "Then I suppose we'll just have to decide now!"

"HOW are you so positive? Remember how long it took last time for us pick something to do?" Misty said pointedly.

"Yup. An hour. It's not so bad."

"What do you mean, it's not so bad?!" Misty cried, "With an hour, I could've done a ton of stuff!"

"True, but I mean, our record is like...four hours, right?" Dawn remembered.

"Ugh, I guess that's true. It could be totally worse," Marina said. "Whatever. Time to pick a movie guys."

"So...uh...Can we do-"

"No May, we cannot do a film with Wallace in it."

"Dang it!"

* * *

Leaf scribbled on her notepad furiously, humming a tune under her breath. She hopped down the steps, almost running into a wall, but sharply maneuvered away from it.

"New song?" Ash asked with a bright smile. Leaf nodded, shoving her pencil in her mouth as she rushed over to the piano, playing a couple chords.

"Show us what you got," Gary prompted, giving her a small smile. Leaf smiled back, overly glad that she didn't have to deal with a rude Gary anymore.

"Perhaps I can help too?" Paul offered, closing the porch door behind him. He chucked his jacket onto a nearby chair before settling onto the couch next to Gary.

Leaf shot the purple-haired boy a surprised look before nodding quickly. "Yeah. Here...this is what I have."

She took a deep breath before playing, almost as if gathering courage.

"Everybody got their reason, everybody got their way," Leaf sang, playing a couple chords. "We're just catching and releasing. What builds up throughout the day. It gets into your body."

Paul reached for his guitar, strumming along. Ash thought for a moment before creating a beat on the table.

Gary stepped next to the grand piano, playing a harmony unsurely. Leaf flashed him a grin as she continued singing. "And it flows right through your blood. We can tell each other secrets. And remember how to love. Da da dum dum dum dum dum. Da dum dum dum. Dadada dum dum. Da da dum dum dum dum dum. Da dum dum dum."

Leaf stopped, pausing. "Well, that's the chorus. And I think I have most of the first verse done. But I'll need help with a bridge and second verse."

"Shall we have a music writing session?" Gary asked with a smirk. "I mean, we are all musicians."

The brown-haired girl stuck her tongue out, eyes bright. "Yeah. I'll go get the girls. I think they're all upstairs. They're watching a movie."

"Why aren't you there?" Ash asked curiously.

"I've been writing songs during the movie, so I thought it'd probably be smart not to do it in a darkened room." Leaf explained. "Alright, you guys go get the other boys?"

They nodded, and Leaf dashed out of the room. Her footsteps echoed through the house as she pounded up the stairs.

Words Unspoken was totally okay with being interrupted for a song-writing session. The girls flooded down the stairs, carrying various instruments, note pads, pencils and electronic devices.

The boys were all waiting there already.

"Are we adding other things to this song?" Paul asked immediately after Leaf settled into the piano bench. "Like electric music? Dubstepesque type things? That is definitely not a word...I forgot what it was called."

Dawn laughed lightly, "Paul, using a fake word? The world must be ending."

She frowned. "Nah, I think this is a quieter, more soothing song."

May smiled. "Let's hear it Leafy."

"There's a place I go to  
Where no one knows me  
It's not lonely  
It's a necessary thing  
It's a place I made up

Let it wash over me  
Ready to lose my feet  
Take me on to the place where one reviews life's mystery  
Steady on down the line  
Lose every sense of time  
Take it all in and wake up that small part of me  
Day to day I'm blind to see  
And find how far  
To go

Everybody got their reason  
Everybody got their way  
We're just catching and releasing  
What builds up throughout the day

It gets into your body  
And it flows right through your blood  
We can tell each other secrets  
And remember how to love

Da da dum dum dum dum dum  
Da dum dum dum  
Dadada dum dum  
Da da dum dum dum dum dum  
Da dum dum dum  
Dadada dum dum."

"Alright, so everyone works on the instrument parts? Leaf and Paul can take over the lyrics," May said. No one objected, and they quickly set to work.

Nothing was heard except for scribbling, and a few occasional notes.

Paul tapped his own pencil on his paper. "Huh. Let's see...I think I got the start to the second verse. And maybe finish of the first verse.

"Find out what I'm made of, the nights are stayed up counting stars and fighting sleep," Paul sang lowly. He gave a prompting look. "That way it fits nicely. Then the chorus can come in."

Leaf hummed under her breath before nodding. "Yeah, yeah that's good."

"Okay," Paul said, "This is the second verse part I have."

He took a deep breath before singing, "There's a place I'm going, no one knows me. If I breathe real slowly."

"Let it out and let it in. It can be terrifying," Leaf added on the fly, "To be slowly dying. Also clarifying, the end where we begin."

So let it wash over me  
I'm ready to lose my feet  
Take me on to the place where one reviews life's mystery  
Steady on down the line."

Sometime, Jimmy picked up a guitar, and Marina grabbed one as well. She may not play regularly, but she still knew how to play one. Leaf was playing chords already.

Misty had gotten two sets of drumsticks, handing one to Ash with a grin.

"Lose every sense of time  
Take it all in and wake up that small part of me  
Day to day I'm blind to see  
And find how far  
To go

Everybody got their reason  
Everybody got their way  
We're just catching and releasing  
What builds up throughout the day

It gets into your body  
And it flows right through your blood  
We can tell each other secrets  
And remember how to love

"Da da dum dum dum dum dum  
Da dum dum dum  
Dadada dum dum  
Da da dum dum dum dum dum  
Da dum dum dum  
Dadada dum dum."

Paul and Drew sang together, everyone else falling silent for the moment. Their low tones blending together nicely. Jimmy and Marina strummed the guitars in time with each other.

"There's a place I go to  
There's a place I go to  
There's a place I go to  
There's a place I go to  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of  
Find out what I'm made of."

Leaf, May, and Dawn were all harmonizing, while Paul and Drew were were simply singing low tones, as if imitating the bass, or other added music.

They all sat back, quite satisfied.

"That actually sounds really good," Dawn said with a short giggle.

"Should we do a joint album?" Misty asked. She seemed nervous, hesitant, and maybe a little more than curious.

Everyone stared at each other.

"What are the pros?" Ash smiled.

"And what are the cons?" Misty frowned.

They smiled at each other as the others groaned. And they didn't stop staring at each other. They got close and closer...then...

"Too lovey dovey," Marina complained, smirking at her cousin. They broke apart with a flush, everyone else bursting into laughter. Misty stuck out her tongue childishly.

"Another one?" Drew staring at May contemplatively.

She cocked her head at him, a smile creeping up. "What are you up to?"

Drew smiled. "I have lyrics that I've been...keeping in my room."

"That's what you've been hiding!" Gary exclaimed triumphantly. Leaf rolled her eyes, punching her fiance with a glare. "Don't be rude."

Drew was slightly flushed as he glared at his best friend. "Shut up."

"Aww! Did you write a song for me?" May laughed teasingly.

Drew flushed a little more as his eyes darkened a little. "Whatever. I don't care that much."

"It's okay to be care, you know," Ash offered up with a small, innocent smirk. "A lot."

Everyone turned to him.

"Looks like Ash is all insightful today!" Dawn laughed.

He looked affronted again. "Hey!"

They all laughed.

"You want to play a tune, Leaf?" Paul prompted. Leaf nodded slowly, playing a chord.

She shook her head as she changed the chord, before adding another. Soon, there were a string of chords. Paul grabbed a guitar and joined in, playing almost the same chords on the guitar.

Drew thought for a moment before starting to sing.

"Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it  
I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted  
I fell right through the cracks  
Now I'm trying to get back."

The song built, the music changing with the words. Leaf and Paul had moved on to a bridge, switching things up as it went.

"Before the cool done run out  
I'll be giving it my bestest  
And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention.  
I reckon, it's again my turn  
To win some or learn some."

Drew was singing softly, as if it was one of those heartfelt, quieter songs. May was swaying in her seat with Dawn, the two girls

"But I won't hesitate  
No more, no more.  
It cannot wait,"

It was almost as if May knew the lyrics. Because for the last two words of the chorus, she joined in, her voice building a lilting harmony.

"I'm yours."

The couple shared a shy smile, though Drew's expression was tinged with surprise. Dawn nudged her friend, continuing to sway. The music took a happier, bubbly turn.

"Well, open up your mind and see like me,  
Open up your plans and damn you're free.  
Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, love, love.  
Listen to the music of the moment, people dance and sing, we're just one big family  
And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved, loved, loved, loved, loved."

Drew continued singing. Paul added some lower harmony, and Dawn let out a giggle at Drew's once again shocked expression. It was almost as if he hadn't expected everyone else to take to the song that quick.

"So I won't hesitate  
No more, no more.  
It cannot wait,  
I'm sure.  
There's no need to complicate.  
Our time is short.  
This is our fate,  
I'm yours."

Drew finished as Paul and Leaf kept playing.

Misty smiled to herself as she kept the spare camera steady. She had been recording the entire session, but none of her friends seemed to realize. It was too bad. They were going to flip out when she posted the session on Poketube.

* * *

Misty cackled evilly as she pressed the post button with glee. She of course looked GREAT in the video, but she didn't care that much. She mostly cared about how her friends were going to absolutely go nuts when they saw it. The girls would freak out because their hair was mess. The boys...well, they would freak out because their hair was messy. And NOT the stylish kind.

Misty let out another laugh.

"What're you doing?" Ash knocked on the door, his face peering through the crack. Misty couldn't help herself, and started laughing.

"Um..haha...uh, nothing Ash!"

Ash pushed the door open, coming around to look at the device on her table. "Really? You took VIDEO of us?"

"What?" Misty mumbled sheepishly.

She hadn't photo shopped anything...which is more than she gave the girls from before. Like...before, she had completely photo shopped their faces before posting a previous video with them just jamming. Progress. At least, Misty called it progress.

"No, I'm not mad, I'm just a little shocked. Why?" Ash questioned.

"'Cause it's funny," Misty said, grinning toothily. "I mean, the girls are going to freak, the fans are going to freak, and our MANAGER is going to freak, I mean, Aralyn and Iris will go absolutely nuts! So yeah, I'm bending the rules a little...but you have to admit it'll be funny when they react. They don't even look that bad." Misty explained.

"Huh. I mean, I guess you're right. Though it's a little on the mean side..."

"Oh shush it, it'll be okay. They'll forgive me...over a period of time."

"Okay, if you say so, Mist."

"I do say so."

"Right, bye, I gotta go find where Paul wandered off to..."

"Sometimes," Misty muttered to herself, "I swear that boy is psychic. He totally knows when he needs to leave!"

* * *

"I'm actually really glad to be here."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy turned to Marina, staring at her with an apprehensive look in his eyes.

Marina sighed with a deep groan. She rolled over on the bed, kicking her legs in the air as she stared at Jimmy's ceiling. They had all gotten their own rooms, and as time had gone on, they had made the blank rooms a little more like themselves.

"I mean, being here, without a bullet or a fan hurtling towards us."

Jimmy let out a choked laugh, "You make it sound like the fan and the bullet are equally as bad."

Marina shot him a bright smile, "That's 'cause they are!"

He shook his head, his hair drooping and falling in his eyes as he took his cap off. Marina brushed out of his eyes, before snatching her hand back. It was...too domestic. Too familiar for people who weren't even completely sure about a relationship, let alone getting married soon.

"NOOOO! MISTY WATERFLOWER, YOU DIDN'T LET ME DO MY HAIR! OR PUT ON PROPER CLOTHES!"

"Okay, calm down, my hair wasn't done either...just-"

"Shut up Drew! This is 100% not okay!"

Marina fell back against the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I suppose May found the video Misty posted today."

"Wait, what?" Jimmy's back straightened as his lips thinned. "WHAT."

Marina perked an eyebrow, settling against the covers and pillows. "Yeah. Mist thinks no one saw her recording with the spare camera in the studio, but come on, we're not cousins for nothing. I mean, CLOSE cousins. I know her like the back of my hand."

"So you noticed when she went to the camera and started recording?"

"Duh."

"Why didn't you warn any of us?"

Marina giggled. "Well it wouldn't be as honest if we all were just acting, would it?"

He paused, shooting her an amused look, "So you did so we would be our honest selves?"

"Yup," Marina nodded, brushing a pig tail over her shoulder. "I suppose we should go look at the video with them. Hm?"

"How do you even know they're watching it?"

Marina perked a brow, "That's a stupid question. You can't honestly believe that my friends WOULDN'T want to watch anything out in public about themselves? Okay, that makes them sound conceited. I mean, like usually they do it before it's released...but it's different this time. They always want to make sure they look okay and all that."

"That's true. I mean, I know you care about it too. So why aren't you freaking out?"

"Well, I believe in inner beauty and confidence in yourself. I mean, of course I want to look good, but that's for me, and for my friends, or people I actually care about. I don't care what strangers think about me very much. And maybe a little of it is for the fans, but otherwise...nah. I mean, if you get all dolled up and someone likes you, but when you're not, they don't...then they don't like YOU, they like the dresses and make up. And perhaps some people are okay with fake affection, but I'm not."

"Preach...tell that to all those people obsessed with looking perfect out there."

"Trust me," Marina mumbled darkly, "I have."

"Come on," Jimmy held the door open, arm sweeping as he dipped his hat. He smiled as he pointed towards the source of the loud crying. Marina smirked.

"Oh dear, WHAT has Misty done?"

* * *

"No! I look horrible! My hair is everywhere! You can see that we're all in pajamas! Why Misty WHY!?" May wailed as everyone gathered in the girl's red room. "Do you understand what this'll do to my image? We're celebraties! They'll murder us!"

"I don't care about you're image," Drew offered, a half smile adorning his face.

"Well I dooo," May moaned, her limps sprawling from her chair as she stared at the screen in horror.

"If it makes you feel better, I look like a FIVE. And normally I'm a TEN," Gary said solemnly, leaning against the doorway. Leaf punched him in the shoulder with a sharp glare.

"Cut it out."

Gary groaned, but nodded. "Okaaay."

"I'm going to die," May whimpered, holding her hands out desperately. Drew hesitated, and almost moved to hug her before Dawn bumped him out of the way with her shoulder.

"Outta the way mister! May needs a Dawn hug!"

Drew stared at them, half scared, half confused, and perhaps just a tad angry.

"I'm mad at Mist," May complained weakly. "Me mad!"

"Aww, I know you are, I'm kinda too...but we forgive and forget May, remember?"

Drew inched towards Gary. "Uh...why are they acting like May's a child and Dawn's her mother?"

"I don't know, I'm not very good with the emotional part of women!" Gary whispered back, keeping in it all in the corner of his mouth. Drew shot him a look.

"Okay, I'm not good with MOST parts of women," Gary admitted. Leaf turned to him with a sharp, agreeing look.

"Yeah, yeah," Gary mumbled, nudging her. She gave him a small smile before turning back to their friends.

"I thought we were okay," Leaf said, pointing all of them out. "I mean, it's all more adorable than anything else. Not particularly messy, and if it is, it's more realistic and cute than horribly cray. You know?"

"Did you just say, 'cray'?" May laughed incredulously. Leaf flushed.

"Maybe?"

"Oh Leaf, we are SO proud of you!" Marina laughed dramatically, sweeping into the room with Jimmy not far behind. The video continued playing on the screen.

"See?" Marina said, "I TOLD you."

"Yeah, yeah," Jimmy sighed, mimicking Gary from earlier. "I guess we just never win."

"Okay, hit me with it," Misty sighed, appearing in the doorway with a half smirk, half frown on her face.

May, Dawn, and Leaf all turned their attention to Misty. But only May tackled Misty. And only Dawn started screaming at the top of her lungs.

* * *

"Are you sure this'll protect our ears from their shrieking cries?" Ash asked seriously, his eyes filled with worry.

Paul gave a silent scoff before plopping down in the corner of the room, his long legs laid out in front of him. "Who do you think I am?"

"Alright, alright," Ash said warily. "If you're sure. I mean, I just really don't want to hear their screams."

"Yeah," Paul muttered, "Me too. That's why I came down here in the soundproof recording studio in the first place."

"No need to get so condescending," Ash huffed. "I get looked down around here enough."

Paul stared at him for a moment, completely unimpressed.

"Remind me why we're friends again?" Paul asked.

"I don't know, Paul," Ash sighed. "I don't know either."

* * *

 **AN: Yeah...short, I know. But I'll get the next one out faster. I promise!**

 **-Ange**


	12. Chapter 11

**AN: I promised it'd be fast. This is pretty fast. ;) Considering I'm sick with like...strep or something. And studying the hell out of my finals. And life. And other crap. bleh. ;)**

* * *

"Well, I know you guys don't want to, but it's time-"

"-Yeah, yeah. We know we need to talk about the government again."

"Okay, so you always know what to say, right?" Leaf snapped. Gary frowned.

"Hey, I didn't mean to-"

Leaf sighed, "I know you didn't. I'm just...I'm tired, which is no excuse, but I'm snappish today. Sorry."

Gary gave her a slow, concerned look. "Are you sure you're okay? Nothing...you need to talk about?"

Leaf nodded, digging the heels of her hands into her forehead. "Yeah. I'm just worried. And anxious. We all are."

"I'm sick of worrying to. And the pain of waiting," Gary admitted.

"No shit."

"Okay, stop with the cynicism," Gary muttered, sticking his tongue out with a sharp look. Leaf tossed her head back, her neck cracking as she rolled it.

"You realize that's not possible?"

Gary gave a dark chuckle. "Do I ever."

"I'm serious. Don't be rude."

"I'm not! I'm just trying to...argh, it's just who I am! It's not fair for you to be so depressing, and expect me to comfort you! Just because you're down doesn't mean you get to take it out on me!"

"I'm not! I'm not trying to at least! Okay? I already apologized for being grumpy. You don't have to shoot me down for whenever I'm trying to be positive too!"

"When? When in this conversation where you trying to be positive!? I'm just trying to get a point across!"

"Well I'm sick of double standards! You expect me to be positive, but you get to be negative then?"

"And you stop countering everything I say with something negative!"

"Well if you would stop being so insistent and be a little more understanding!"

"Just stop it! I'm sick of this, of you contradicting everything I say!"

"Well I'm sick of you being snappy and acting bitchy just because you feel like it! This isn't when you were little! This is real fucking life!"

Leaf's lower lip trembled as she scooted back on the bed, hunching around her curled up knees.

"Okay, that was out of line. I'm sorry," Gary apologized softly. Leaf nodded slowly, her eyes fluttering shut as she buried her head in her knees.

"I know.

"Can we not fight?" Leaf sighed, rubbing her temples. "And we both need to fight fair. No more talking about the other person."

"I don't want to fight!" Gary cried, throwing his hands up.

Leaf's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Yeah you're right. I dunno. Maybe...maybe we just need space today. A couple hours away from each other."

Gary cocked his head. "Alright. Fine. I...I'm gonna go out. Not you're fault...just...we both need space. Plus, if we're raiding that bank tomorrow..."

"Alright. As long as you're being-"

"Yes, faithful, I know."

Gary gave her a slow, soft smile. "Don't worry Leafy. I swore, and I will."

Leaf met his with her own hesitant one. "Right."

The door clicked shut behind Gary, and Leaf laid back on the edge of the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"What is wrong with me? And...why...why does everything have to be like this?"

There was no response.

"I'm tired, so tired. Of all of it," she murmured, wishing she was far away, in another place. "But so is everyone else. And someone's gotta take them down."

Leaf squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers clenching.

"Someone's gotta stop them," she whispered to herself. "Someone's got to."

"I need to go shoot at something."

* * *

"I swear to Arceus, I better win!" Misty yelled, chasing Ash around the house.

"Okay, okay," Ash laughed. "But I get controller one!"

"How dare you, you insolen-"

"Haha, I'm gonna get it!"

"You guys are weird," Leaf laughed, sitting cross legged as the couple dashed down the stairs. "I already have the first controller."

"Ugh, no fair!"

"Of course it is!" Misty growled, stomping her feet indignantly. Leaf laughed lightly.

"If you can convince Mar to take me out paint balling, I'll give you the controller."

The two were up the stairs within moments, running through the mansion.

Leaf laughed as she walked up the winding stairs, feeling slightly more relaxed already.

"So, I hear someone wants to go paint balling," Marina smirked, her hand on her hip as she leaned against the front door.

Misty and Ash dashed by Leaf towards the basement, rushing to get the controller.

"Oh, I'm going!" May yelled from the top of the stairs, her eyes wide.

"Me too!" Dawn shouted from her the music room.

"It's fine with me," Marina smiled happily. "Get in the car. We're not going easy today."

"We're going to have so many bruises," May groaned playfully.

Leaf let out a soft chuckle as Dawn rushed upstairs.

"WAIT! I need to change!"

"Of course you do," Marina muttered.

"Aw, don't be grumpy Mar, it's not like you gave us much warning."

"Fiiinee."

* * *

The club was hot, muggy, sweaty, loud, and dark. Paul hated it.

Gary slid a shot to Drew and offered Paul one, but the man shook his head.

Drew gripped the shot as he glared sullenly at the throbbing and writhing masses on the dance floor.

"Remind me again, WHY the fuck are we here?" Drew growled, slamming his fist onto the bar table harshly. Gary ripped at his hair, eyes dark and unreadable.

"Okay, what do you want me to say?"

"Tomorrow's a BIG day," Paul intoned. "You bumbling idiots know that, right?"

"Yes," Drew and Gary snarled together.

"We need to get out of that house or we're all going to suffocate. Leaf texted me earlier, she's paint balling with May, Marina, and Dawn. Jimmy, Misty, and Ash are playing some video games I think. So...we're at a bar."

"A club."

"Yes, essentially."

"Wasn't this one of the things Leaf said you should never go to again?" Paul piped up.

"You're just SO helpful today," Gary retorted sarcastically.

"But it is, isn't?" Drew insisted.

Gary hesitated before nodding guiltily. "Yeah. I need a drink."

"She TOLD you to stop it, and she's being lenient. And why a club? Why not a bar?" Paul scolded. Gary glared at him.

"I'm regretting bringing you now."

"You realize that the paps are going to have a fucking field day," Drew said with raised eyebrows. Gary nodded wearily.

"This was the most familiar place."

"Why, because this is the place where you pick up all you're slags?" Drew taunted.

"Alright, fine!" Gary threw up his hands as he tossed back the shot he had in his hand in one large gulp. "We'll go somewhere else without booze."

"I'm staying out of this best friend business," Paul warned, reaching for the keys sitting on the table. "I'M going to be the responsible one who drives you idiots home safely."

Drew gave Gary a wary look. "You sure you want to get wasted?"

"It's not like they don't have those pills for...you know. Tomorrow will be fine."

"It's not just that. You know you do stupid things when you're drunk."

"Paul can make sure I don't do anything stupid," Gary offered as they walked out of the club.

"That would mean not allowing you to get drunk and piss off Leaf. I mean, I want to stay on that woman's good side," Paul said calmly.

"Ass," Gary groaned. "Anything after I'm drunk."

"Fine. But I'm not doing anything for either of you if you throw up on me."

"Promise you won't let me do anything I'll regret?"

"Promise."

"Alright, not that that's over and done with...where's the nearest GOOD bar around here?"

* * *

When a drunk Gary fell asleep on Leaf's bed, she didn't comment, just rolled over and kept sleeping.

The next morning, after Gary wasn't so hungover, neither of them mentioned how that was the first night they ever spent in the same bed.

Or how they'd ended up wrapped around each other, no matter that they'd been shrieking at each other hours before.

Neither of them said anything about the fight, or the space, or the drinking. No, they had a bigger, more important job that day.

They had to rob a bank.

They could deal with it later.

* * *

"REMIND ME WHY WE'RE ROBBING A BANK!?" May shouted over the din, her hands clutched tightly around Drew's waist. It was early in the morning. Earlier than any of them had been happy about, but it was way before bank hours, so it guaranteed the minimal amount of people.

"AND WHY THE HELL ARE WE RIDING MOTORCYCLES?"

"BECAUSE THE REBELS NEED MONEY!? I DON'T KNOW, WE'RE JUST DOING WHAT CHARLIE AND BELLA WANT US TO DO! IT'S FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTY!"

"UGH!"

"WHY ARE WE YELLING?"

"THE WIND? DUH!"

"OH COME ON!"

They both burst into laughter, their bodies shaking with the effort. Suddenly, a car ran a red light, and Drew cursed. He swerved wildly, gripping the wheel as he gunned the engine. The wind was howling even louder now, and May flinched, burrowing closer into Drew's back.

Ruefully, Drew wondered how she was the most comfortable around him when she was scared, or in battle. If only she was a little more open at the house.

They pulled up in front of the large, shiny building without much other interruption, as people had not ventured out of their houses yet.

"Right, come on. Dawn, Paul, Jimmy, and Ash should be in there already. The other's are meeting up with us at the door. Somebody's gotta open the vaults." May reported, moving towards the side door.

"We go to Vaults 5-10 right? They got the first five?" Drew asked.

"Yeah, and the Gary and Marina are meeting up with us. Leaf and Misty are heading to the security room to see if they can get it open. If not, then we'll have to use...use some cutters. Metal ones. Perhaps...heavier duty stuff."

* * *

"This is not a good idea," Dawn murmured, inching along the wall.

"Remember who we're doing this against..." Paul said quietly. "Who it's for." Dawn nodded slowly, shaking her head.

"I guess. I still feel bad."

"Now's not the time for indecision. Come on."

Paul slipped along the bend, barely flinching as he tazed another man. His clothes smoked as he collapsed in a heap.

"Maybe a little less force?" Dawn said.

"No, can't afford them waking up."

"I suppose."

"Okay." Their earpieces buzzed with static.

"Yeah, me and Jimmy are already there, how far are you guys?" Ash's voice was joyful, even though they were robbing a bank.

"Couple more corridors," Paul answered, still moving swiftly, yet quietly along the wall. Dawn followed behind, her hand clutching a gun she hoped she wouldn't have to use.

"You're all covered up, right?" Jimmy asked.

"Of course, Dawn even has contacts in."

"But they've disabled the cameras, correct?" Paul muttered.

"Oh yeah, Misty and Leaf have gotten to the security already. And you know Leaf. Of course they're all disabled. Well, they're playing blank loops."

"You know we can hear you right?" Leaf sighed. Her voice was impatient, if not amused. "And yes, I HAVE disabled them."

"Hey! What about me?" Misty grumbled.

"You're keeping watch. Just like you were supposed to." Leaf said.

"Great, 'watchkeeper'. Sounds great," Misty muttered sarcastically.

"You guys there? We're in the southern corridors already," Gary's voice conveyed. Another crackle of static filled their earpieces.

"What was that?"

"That my friends, was my ear piece falling off," Misty said. "I had to knock someone out."

"Just be quick about it," Paul ordered.

"Hey, we are!" May said indignantly.

"No one was talking to you May," Marina chided gently.

"Oh."

"Okay, I got it. Try vault four. I think I got it open."

"Got it Leaf, we're on it," Drew said.

* * *

May tensed when she heard the footsteps.

She was on watch with Gary while Drew and Marina went in. They were looting things that could be sold at pawn shops. The coins and jewelry, and other things. Not the money, because money could be traced. Money could lead them to the rebels.

A guard. An armed guard.

This wasn't good.

Not good at all.

Perhaps he wouldn't turn the corner. But something told May he was. So she clenched her hand gun a little tighter, flicking the safety.

This was an old fashioned gun, from decades ago. It was the only reason that it wasn't traced by the government. Anything that was weapon or money related was tracked. How else did they completely dominate the country?

Sure enough, the man turned the corner.

May swung a fist at him, catching him in the back of the head. She went for his comms unit next, tearing it off of him, making sure he couldn't call for help.

The man groaned on the ground, but May didn't show any mercy. Too more blunt hits and he was out cold.

"Just got one here, hurry up guys, people will look for them before long," she urged.

"May's right," Leaf agreed. "Okay team two, I got the other vaults open. I'm working on the last one, team one. Mist, you still paying attention?"

"We're almost done, it's pretty heavy though. You guys will have to help carry some of it," Marina replied.

"I have the back vault," Drew said quickly, "You get the other ones, Mar?"

"Yup," was the quick reply.

May barely let out a sound when she fell, dropping to the floor as the guard swept her legs out from under her.

She hit the floor hard, the lights swimming and the air knocking right out of her lungs.

"Hello? What was that?"

Her vision was fuzzy and she couldn't hear anything. Her chest hurt like a bitch, but the familiar, cool handle of the gun was still in her hands.

The guard leaned over her, eyes dark and furious. "Thought you could take me out, just like that?"

May didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything. Instead, she brought up the gun. The guard flinched, eyes going wide.

She didn't have time to feel guilty, to think about it or anything else.

She pulled the trigger.

The sound of the gun going off alerted Gary, and he immediately started shouting.

Her comms lit up.

"What the hell was that?! Who is that?"

"May?! May, are you okay?"

She was still catching her breath though.

"Are you okay?"

Gary pulled the guard off of her, his face slack with concern. May wheezed.

"Y-yeah. Is...he d-dead?"

Gary frowned.

"Yeah. Yeah he is. Headshot."

May closed her eyes, something inside snapped inside.

The rest of the mission, she was in a haze. They got out of the place successfully, and everyone was safe.

May went back to their house, went straight to her room, and locked the door.

And didn't emerge for a full day.

* * *

"I killed someone," May whispered softly. Drew scoffed at himself. Earlier he had wanted her to be more welcoming. Now she was.

And he had absolutely no idea what to do.

Drew was hesitant. The living room was too hot, and the screen in front of them was too bright. Everything was thrown out of proportions. He had always known that there would be an emotional part of their relationship, but he never had to deal with it before.

Of course he liked May. He had already admitted it. But she hadn't been very upfront about her emotions. Don't get him wrong, he hadn't been either, but it seemed like a roadblock neither of them had wanted to cross. At least, until now.

"Haven't you before?"

May lowered her head, tugging on her lip. "No. No I haven't. At least, not like that. Before, it was out of necessity, and the adrenaline and...and I never had to see their faces. It was always quick and unsuspecting. But this time? I saw his face, practically begging. But I didn't have a choice."

She whispered the last part, her eyes sad. "I didn't have a choice, did I?"

"No," Drew sighed. A hand sank into his green hair. "No, you didn't. I had trouble the first time too. I didn't understand why we were any better if we were going to kill. But then I realized, if we didn't kill? Well, then they would have an advantage. Such an advantage, that winning this battle as the underdogs just wasn't practical. It was nearly impossible, let alone giving us a good chance.

"We couldn't afford that. Same principle here," Drew explained.

"It didn't make it any easier," May whispered hollowly. "He was there, and I could've just knocked him out. But it was too risky..."

She fell silent, her voice weak.

Drew sighed. He let her fall into his open arms as she shook silently.

"I know May, I know."

And he did. But there was nothing he could say to help the guilt. May knew of all of it already.

But it didn't help the guilt.

* * *

 **AN: Review please? It helps...a lot. Thanks!**

 **-Ange**


End file.
